Meddlesome
by mookies
Summary: Those who meddle, meddle because they care. Nara Kagome finds this out the hard way when Uzumaki Naruto enters her life... AU. Naruto/Kagome.
1. Naive, not Stupid

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! **

Yay! New story! I don't intend on making the chapters super long, but they'll be longer than drabbles. And the main couple will probably be Naruto/Kagome, but I left out specific details in case I change my mind. :)

enjoyyyy.

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><p>"Where are you going?"<p>

Big blue eyes blinked and turned in the direction of the accusatory voice. "Um, out?"

Nara Shikamaru sighed. "Seriously, Kagome? You say that every time: you should know by now that I know something's up. Even Souta can come up with a better excuse than you."

Kagome pouted at the tiny insult before she let her eyes glisten and fill with fake tears, hoping she could convince her dear older brother he was wrong. "But Shikamaru, I really am just going out to see my friends."

Shikamaru gave her a blank stare, clearly not believing a word that left her lips. She batted her pretty blue eyes, and smiled.

"Kagome, I'm your brother, not some random guy you're trying to get into bed with."

The smile turned into a glare. "Thanks for the reminder," Kagome mumbled and crossed her arms across her chest. "Anyways, why are you so determined to know where I'm going? Am I not allowed to hang out with my friends or something?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"According to dad, no, you're not."

'Why do they both have to be so overprotective?' Kagome mentally questioned herself before sighing. "I promise I won't be gone long: I'll be back before dad even notices I'm gone!" she swore.

'Why does she have to be so stubborn?' Shikamaru mentally sighed as he stared down at his _bothersome_ sister, who was only a year younger than him. He scratched the back of his head. "You make my life really difficult, you know that?"

He closed his eyes when Kagome widely smiled and pressed her lips against his cheek in gratitude.

"Thanks so much, Shikamaru! See ya later!" She said before scrambling out the door, into the still brightly lit streets of Konohagakure while Shikamaru watched her leave.

"I hope you know this means you have to go follow her now."

"What a drag," Shikamaru muttered before turning around to face his dad, who had finally decided to make his appearance, and was now casually leaning against the wall. "Come on, dad. Kagome's naive but she's not an idiot."

"That's true," Nara Shikaku said as he stood up straight and gave his oldest child a pointed stare, "but there are still a ton of men out there who would gladly take advantage of her. You should show a little more concern when it comes to your sister, Shikamaru."

'It's because I _did_ show concern that I'm now in this mess,' Shikamaru thought with a frown. "If you're so worried, why don't _you_ go after her?" He questioned as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Don't be an idiot. She'll know something's up if she senses me following her around," Shikaku replied.

The frown on Shikamaru's face deepened. 'Yeah, that's why she sensed you when she was getting ready to leave in the first place.' However, he stopped voicing any more complaints (because Shikaku was just gonna nag at him until he finally gave in) and walked out the front door, reluctantly following his paranoid, overprotective father's request. He dragged his feet in a straight direction, already having an idea of where Kagome was headed.

'You owe me for this, Kagome.'

End of chapter.

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><p>an: yaaah...I thought it was very fitting for the person who hates troublesome situations to be the older brother of the person who always gets into those sorts of situations. Heheh, poor Shikamaru. XD


	2. The Troublesome Rumor

**Disclaimer: I own nada!**

I'm so happy so many people like this so far! Happy day. X3

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><p>Either Kagome knew he was following her and was purposely walking in a random direction so he wouldn't know where her true destination was, or she really had planned on meeting her friends somewhere, but not where he had originally suspected.<p>

Something in his gut told him it was the first option, because he knew that his sister was a lot more cunning and mischievous than she let on. Which was why he was suspicious about whether Kagome was aware that he was walking 20 feet behind her or not, behind a few people that hid him from her sight should she feel the need to look back.

With the way she continued to innocently gaze at some food stands and look into random stores, he could guess no, but...

One just never knew with Kagome.

But, she had never commented on it before...

"Shikamaru!"

Said male's eyes slightly widened and turned in the direction of the female voice that had just called his name. His dark orbs met cheery blue, and Shikamaru inwardly groaned, because he was 100 percent positive things were only gonna get worse for him. Especially now that he couldn't see Kagome in the crowd.

'Great...'

"Ino," he mumbled, not at all enthusiastic.

"What kind of crappy way is that to greet your teammate of three years?" the pretty blond protested with a frown as she came to an easy stride alongside him. She didn't pester him on that matter for too long though, because she knew that he probably wouldn't pay much attention to her protests- he never did. Plus, the reason she was even here was to inform him of a juicy rumor she had heard not too long ago that she knew he would probably like to know about.

"So, Shikamaru, what are you doing out so late at night?" She began.

"My dad is making me follow Kagome," Shikamaru answered in that typical bored tone of his.

Ino tilted her head to the side. "Oh, so he knows?"

This caused Shikamaru to look at her. "What?"

"Your dad knows? About Kagome and her plans for tonight, I mean."

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru questioned, becoming more annoyed by the second.

"Oh Shikamaru," Ino sighed. "Come on, _everyone's_ been talking about it."

Shikamaru couldn't help but scowl. Mainly because he hated how Ino always tended to draw out things instead of getting straight to the point, but also because he didn't like it when people gossiped about Kagome, or anybody he cared about for that matter.

Getting a slight kick out of Shikamaru's irritation (because his range of emotions was usually limited) but knowing the matter at hand was urgent, Ino finally revealed, "Kagome is going on a date."

The scowl deepened and Shikamaru closed his eyes. According to his dad, Kagome and dates were a no go (unless it was a date with Hojo, who he oddly approved of). But if Kagome (who was incredibly stubborn when she wanted to be) wanted to go on a date, then who was he to stop her? "So there really is no need to follow her," he muttered to himself, about to turn around and tell his dad to stop worrying and—

Ino interrupted his thoughts. "No, you're gonna want to follow her," she said in serious tone.

"And why's that?"

"Well, from what I heard, she's going on a date with Miroku. You know, Miroku the pervert?"

Shikamaru stopped walking.

"_What_?"

End of chapter.

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><p>an: hmm, is the rumor true or not? XD


	3. The Pervert's Intentions

Thank you all for your support!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto. But I do own 2 Yoshi plushies (one's actually a backpack but whatever). =D

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><p>"Yep, heard it from a reputable source myself," Ino confirmed with a firm nod before a thoughtful look possessed her features. "Gotta admit though, I'm kinda surprised: I didn't think Miroku was Kagome's type. From what I've observed, she's more into the bad boys that have hearts of gold. Ohh, maybe she should go on a date with Sasuke-kun's hot older brother, Itachi-kun! He might look like a jerk, but—"<p>

Shikamaru completely ignored her tirade and tried to look past the dozens of heads that blocked Kagome from his view. To his dismay, he couldn't see her head of long, wavy-ish hair among all the other craniums. He grit his teeth and began walking at a faster pace.

Ino made a small noise of surprise when she finally noticed his pace was increasing in speed. "Hey, what are you—?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shikamaru snapped as he pushed past pairs of huddled civilians, his blond teammate following close behind him.

He wasn't stupid: he was well aware of Ino's reputation as 'gossip queen' or whatever, but—he blamed his father for instilling the idea in his head—there was still the possibility that Kagome was sick of their father chasing away all of her suitors (except for Hojo, who ironically, Kagome didn't care much for) and was now resorting to sneaking out (and _lying_) in order to meet any potential boyfriends.

And because one never really knew what they were dealing with when it concerned Kagome, it was best to confront and ask her directly.

And that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Look, I know it's none of my business, but how is Kagome supposed to enjoy her life when you're constantly butting in?" Ino asked as she also pushed in between the people roaming around on the busy streets of Konoha. She knew for a fact that this wasn't the first time her overprotective friend had tried to sabotage one of his little sister's dates.

Well, sabotage wasn't exactly the right word. Trying to keep it from happening altogether was more accurate and this situation was proving to be no different.

"As if I want to butt in. If she wasn't such a trouble magnet, I wouldn't have to," the lazy Nara replied, his eyes narrowing down as he finally spotted Kagome just straight up ahead.

By the looks of it—

"Hey, there she is!" Ino unnecessarily exclaimed as she too watched Kagome come to a halt outside a small shop of trinkets.

Both members of team 10 froze as a male—a _handsome_ male with stunning violet eyes and a dazzling smile—stepped up to Kagome, a playful (and lustful, Shikamaru angrily noted) smirk on his face.

Shikamaru's anger only increased when both of Hoshino Miroku's hands landed on Kagome's lower back, and began sliding down, his intentions all too clear to him.

He moved towards the pair.

As if she had finally noticed his presence, Kagome looked back, semi surprised to see both her older brother and a gaping Ino standing there.

She became fully surprised at Shikamaru's next words.

"Get your hands off my sister."

End of Chapter.

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><p>an: uh oh! I sense a confrontation! XD

Oh, and the main couple will be Naruto/Kagome—I can't wait to bring him in! Shikamaru will have great fun with that, heehee.


	4. Double Mission Fail

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyaaasha or Naaaruto. Sadly. Unfortunately.**

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><p>Immediately recognizing the 'I'm the older brother so you need to back the hell up off my sister' tone, Miroku withdrew his hands from Kagome and then literally took it a step further by taking it a step back. "Now, now, Shikamaru-kun, this isn't what it looks like," he swore, having no desire to experience a beating from the genius but notoriously lazy Nara Shikamaru.<p>

Kagome turned her head back in his direction, her surprised look replaced with a chiding one. "You know, you make it sound like you really were planning on doing something suspicious," she accused. Miroku supplied a grin in return.

Not one to be left out, Ino leaped into the conversation by stepping in between the two. Then, so that Miroku would pay just _a little_ more attention to her, she threw her arms around Kagome's neck and dragged the smaller girl's form closer to hers in a protective gesture. "Kagome, are you serious? He was totally feeling you up!" The blond dramatically exclaimed before pointing an accusatory finger in Miroku's face, her other hand still cradling the back of Kagome's head. "You better have one hell of an explanation mister, cause nobody gets away with feeling Kagome up like that!" She declared while glaring at him.

And batting her eyelashes at him.

Knowing it was only a matter of seconds before Miroku opened his mouth, Kagome tried to pull out of Ino's grasp and inform her of what was really going on before things got out of control. "Ino-chan, Miroku is going on a date tonight, so please don't—"

Ino tightened her hold on her, cutting off her rant. "Oh, don't worry, I know _all_ about that! Word on the street is you and Miroku here have a pretty special night planned," she said as she took a break from trying to seduce Miroku with her eyes to shoot Kagome a quick, all knowing glance.

"Don't worry, I'll save you," she whispered to her teammate's sister with a wink.

'Save me?' Kagome thought with a confused look. "I think you have the wrong idea, Ino-chan. It's not me—" she was suddenly pulled from Ino's grasp by a pair of calloused hands that were not at all used to extraneous activity.

Shikamaru was actually stepping into the situation, a sign that he wanted answers and he wanted them _now_.

"Kagome, what's going on here?" He asked as he dragged her away from his raunchy blond teammate and the pervert.

"Miroku is going on a date tomorrow with Ayame-chan and he asked me to help him find a present for her: he finally managed to convince her to give him a second chance, you know," the blue eyed girl revealed, keeping a close eye on Miroku, who was now casually talking to Ino.

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow, a frown on his face. "And you had to lie about that because...?"

The look Kagome gave him told him that she knew that he knew the answer to that. "Dad was in the room."

'Of _course_ she knew,' Shikamaru thought as he looked away from his sister's stare.

Every now and then, Kagome liked to prove that she wasn't as naive as she let on.

And _that_ was troublesome.

"This is why I don't like getting involved," the chuunin mumbled to himself as he rubbed the side of his head before turning around, intent on heading home.

Kagome looked surprised at his actions. "Wait, Shikamaru, what about Ino-chan?"

Shikamaru dismissed her worries. "If that sleaze ball tries anything, Ino will bite his head off," he informed her. Ino may have acted the way she did, but even she had a set of morals that she followed.

"That's not the only issue here though," Kagome tried to protest as she looked back at her two friends. Her eyes widened and she made a small noise of surprise when she realized they were now walking together, off to who knows where.

They disappeared into the crowd, out of Kagome's sight.

"Oh no, Ayame-chan is gonna flip," Kagome whispered to herself, her eyes wide and panicked.

Sensing her distress and unconsciously switching back into big brother mode, Shikamaru turned his head back to look at her. "Just tell Ayame that she's better off without that jerk," he advised. He directed his next statement completely at her, "and as for you, _stop_ getting involved with guys like him."

Kagome's biggest flaw? She was completely incapable of saying the word no. Miroku wasn't even a part of her squad, so it wasn't like she _had_ to be around him...

The blue eyed Nara stared down at her feet, and Shikamaru knew she was going to ignore his advice, which was typical of her.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at home soon," Kagome muttered in a cheerless tone before she headed off in the direction of Ichiraku to break the horrible news to her friend.

She had really been looking forward to Miroku and Ayame being a couple again too...

As Shikamaru watched Kagome glide into the swarm of people, he couldn't help but feel at fault. Then again, he saw this as more of a blessing for Ayame cause really, who would want to be tied down to _Miroku_? He just could not see what attracted girls to him. Same with Sasuke, and Neji, and Gaara...

Once Kagome turned a corner and was completely out of his sight, he resumed on his way home.

This time, he was _staying_ there.

And if his dad told him to go chase after Kagome again, he would tell him to send Souta instead.

End of chapter.

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><p>a word from mookie: thank you all for your support!<p>

Obviously, Shikamaru is not a big fan of Miroku, hahah. And I don't think Miroku will be paired up with Ino for sure—they were just more comic relief. But we'll see... oh, and I know some people want Kagome paired up with Itachi (or even Miroku!) and it's very tempting to change it, believe me, but the pairing is definitely gonna stay Naruto/Kagome. Sorry! I'll write another Itachi/Kagome story or something to make up for it (since I, admittedly, have writer's block for Daybreak)!

Alsooo... since Kagome is going to Ichirakus... I bet you guys can guess who she's gonna see there. :D


	5. What Plan?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto!**

Waah, I definitely did not mean to take so long in posting this chapter! I think I'm finally getting over my writer's block though so all should be good!

A big thanks to all my beloved readers, as always!

And yes, the Ayame mentioned is the Ayame from Naruto. :)

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><p>He had been waiting for over an hour.<p>

One. FREAKING. Hour.

Anybody else would have probably left by now: like Sasuke, who had said something along the lines of 'I don't like ramen enough to wait _this_ long for it,' and Sakura, although Naruto felt like there had been another reason for her departure from the infamous ramen stand. Oddly enough, it had been before Ayame had gone mute and had spoken a couple of words to her. Unlike his two squad members though, he, Uzumaki Naruto, was a _loyal_ customer to his beloved Ichiraku, and he would be more than happy to wait for his meal!

At least, that was what he had thought during his first three minutes of waiting. Now, he was wondering if Ayame was even awake—because while she _looked_ awake, she certainly acted more like she was asleep. For one thing, he had called her name about 50 times and had gotten no response. Then there was the fact that Ayame was _always_ quick to serve him, but she had yet to do so.

There was this dreamy look in her dark eyes that kind of scared him. It was the same look that Sakura used to—and still did every now and then—get whenever she stared at Sasuke. The symptoms were the same too: the starry eyes, ignoring everything and everyone and getting lost in the typical romantic, little fantasies...

It alarmed Naruto a bit. And made him question if he would ever get his much deserved bowl of ramen...

'I wish Teuchi-san was here,' he mentally sobbed. The old man would have wasted no time in serving him his meal!

All his thoughts crashed into a brick wall when a flap of the Ichiraku banner rose, indicating someone had just arrived.

Finally, after one long, agonizing hour, Ayame spoke.

"Inuyasha!" She called out, her eyes lighting up in glee at the unexpected (to Naruto, at least) arrival of the silver haired male.

Inuyasha offered a smirk and a raised hand. "Yo," he greeted. His golden eyes then landed on Naruto, who was now staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Uzumaki... what are you doing here?"

Naruto closed his eyes and his mouth settled into a mocking scowl. What kind of a question was that? "What do you **think** I'm doing here?"

Ayame, who had just now realized Naruto was sitting there, blinked in surprise. "Oh, Naruto-kun. When did you get here?"

Naruto almost did a face plant right then and there. He wanted to tell Ayame the truth, that he had been waiting for over 60 minutes now and still had yet to sink his teeth into some steaming noodles. But, now that Inuyasha, perhaps the most arrogant person in Konoha next to Sasuke, was here, maybe it would just be best for him to leave.

On an empty stomach. But he'd rather deal with his hunger than deal with Inuyasha _any day_.

So he lied. "I just got here, but you know what? I'm not really all that hungry anymore, so I'll just leave—"

Inuyasha chose to cut in there. "Good. Cause Kagome should have met with Miroku already and we don't wanna risk running into them."

"Kagome?" Naruto repeated under his breath while Ayame began undoing her apron. "Yes, things usually never go according to plan with those two. But I'm sure you knew that."

A snippet from the earlier, short lived conversation between Sakura and Ayame passed through Naruto's mind.

_Ayame clapped her hands together in front of her chest as she declared, "Oh, Sakura-san, good news! Inuyasha said he overheard Miroku ask Kagome to help him search for a present for me! This means Inuyasha and I can spend some time together because let's face it—Miroku and I are done. Inuyasha is the one for me." _

_Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What? Inuyasha? And wait, Miroku asked Kagome to go with him? That's bad, isn't it?" _

_Her questions went unanswered. "There's just something about Inuyasha that is so... demanding. Miroku is nice to look at but... it's just not the same."_

_Sakura fiddled with her fingers before she stood. "I have to go," she said before sending Naruto, who was still sitting there, chanting to himself about how much he loved ramen, a quick glance. "I have to find someone..." were her departing words._

_And then Ayame had gone completely silent, preferring to be lost in her own little world... _

Well. He supposed some things were starting to click together now.

"Hurry up, Ayame. We don't wanna risk running into those two," Inuyasha rushed as he watched the brunette put some utensils and such away. He redirected his attention to Naruto. "Hurry up and get out, Uzumaki. Ichiraku is closed."

"I'm going, I'm going," Naruto mumbled as he shoved his hands in his pockets and stood.

Then, an unusually weak willed voice cut into the tense silence.

"Ayame-chan, are you here?"

Naruto froze in his spot. Ayame's eyes widened and Inuyasha frowned, neither believing the turn of events.

"What the—" he tried to say.

The same flap that Inuyasha had raised when he had entered ended up being the same one that _she_ raised too.

All three occupants of the ramen stand did a take back when a head of black hair poked in.

"_Kagome_?"

Said girl's expression became puzzled when she recognized her teammate's face.

"Inuyasha?"

End of Chapter.

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><p>an: So basically, Ayame was the one who started the rumor. She told Sakura, who told Ino, who told Shikamaru, who confronted a confused Kagome about it. Yaah.


	6. Uzumaki Intermission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto.**

Yep, writer's block is gone. :)

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><p>If there was one thing one needed to know about Inuyasha, it was this: he loved ramen. Almost as much as Uzumaki Naruto (who, Kagome noticed, was also somehow stuck slap dab in the middle of the strange predicament). Inuyasha had never made it a secret that he loved the flavorful broth, and every time he and his squad returned from a mission, he would drag his two teammates (he didn't care much for their sensei) down to Ichiraku, and if it was too busy, then he would drag them down to a nearby store and make them buy him some instant ramen.<p>

It was just how he was.

So... with that information provided, then there had to be some logical explanation for what was happening, right? After all, Inuyasha loved ramen: naturally, he would get the urge to come to Ichiraku whenever he wanted.

'But!' Cut in the voice of reason that both Shikamaru and her father had tried time and time again to beat into her stubborn head, 'if he's just here for some ramen, why is he grabbing Ayame's arm like that?'

'Maybe he's thanking Ayame-chan for always making him his favorite meal?' Kagome weakly argued.

She could practically _see_ Shikamaru scowling at her with that 'you can't be serious' look he usually gave her and she nearly cringed before she fully stepped into the ramen stand. After knowing Inuyasha for almost ten years now, she knew it was best to just directly confront him. "Um, what's going on?" She questioned, noting that Naruto was still standing to the side, completely motionless.

Direct as ever, Inuyasha slapped her question to the side. "What the hell are you doing here, Kagome? Shouldn't you be with Miroku right now?" He foolishly questioned, instantly removing his hand off Ayame's person when he noticed that that was where Kagome's main focus was.

"How do you know about that?" The blue eyed Nara asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You can't answer my question with another question!" Inuyasha retorted.

Kagome scowled. "But you did the same thing!"

Ayame, who had been quiet up till now, stepped in between the two teammates. She had been witness to many of the two's countless arguments and that was the last thing they needed at the moment. "Now, now, there's no need to fight."

Since Inuyasha was being difficult (as always!), Kagome decided to ask her dark haired friend her question.

"Well," Ayame began, "this is sorta what I wanted to avoid but... you see..."

She flinched when Inuyasha's rough voice overpowered hers as he interpolated. "Uzumaki, hurry up and get out!" He yelled when he noticed that the blond was **still** standing there.

Since she was closest to him and was always quick to defend anyone Inuyasha decided to unleash his snippy temper on, Kagome placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and kept him from moving. Because she had just arrived, she had no idea that he had been trying to leave. "Leave Naruto-kun alone, Inuyasha! He came here for some ramen, not to hear you nag at him!"

"Actually I was on my way out," Naruto informed her. Shikamaru's little sister was a lot easier to talk to than the dreaded Inuyasha was.

"See? So he needs to..." Inuyasha trailed off when Ayame rested her hand on his in an attempt to calm him down, and Kagome's long forgotten question began to answer itself...

As if she had been using all that time to prepare herself, Ayame finally revealed the great mystery. "Kagome-chan, I've decided that I'm going to be with Inuyasha, not Miroku. That is why Inuyasha is here, at this moment."

Kagome looked befuddled, and her voice of reason chose that moment to settle permanently into her head. 'No wonder he was always so persistent on coming to Ichiraku: he wanted to see Ayame-chan,' she thought. Who would have thought that the tempermental Inuyasha had a crush? On Ayame, no less?

A tired breath left her lips before she too exposed her reason for being there. "Well, I guess it all works out then because the reason I came over here was to tell you that I saw Miroku run off with Ino."

Ayame appeared to be... pleased? "Oh, he did?"

"Yeah," Kagome answered as her gaze lowered. "Although, I suppose that doesn't matter now..."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the four teenagers.

'Wow, talk about _weird_,' thought Naruto as he watched a plethora of emotions run through Kagome's face. Most of all though, she looked confused. Like, she wanted to understand what was going on, but couldn't. He himself was no stranger to what that felt like. Especially since Ayame really wasn't making any sort of trade up...

'Looks like it's time for an Uzumaki intermission,' the blond decided as his cerulean eyes darted towards Inuyasha and Ayame, then back to Kagome.

He knew just what to do.

"Kagome, cover your mouth!" He suddenly ordered before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small object. About a millisecond after Kagome had placed her hand over her lips, Naruto slammed the object down onto the ground, causing all of Ichiraku and the surrounding land outside to be surrounded by smoke. Without warning, Kagome was abruptly yanked to the side and before she knew it, she was being dragged behind the blond Uzumaki through the brightly lit streets of Konoha.

In the midst of their getting away, Naruto looked back and shot Kagome a grin. "That was a close call, huh?"

A look of astonishment crossed Kagome's face before it morphed into a grateful smile. Naruto's antics had been a little over the top, but... "Yeah. Thanks, Naruto-kun."

Naruto closed his eyes and his teeth peeked through his grin. "Hey, no problem! You looked like you needed a little help, after all."

Kagome's smile dimmed a little. "Yeah..." Of course, she was still going to have to deal with Inuyasha the next time their squad met, but at least her crazy night was over now...

Their run slowed to a steady walk as they came to a slightly less populated street. For safety precautions (because you never knew who could be lurking the streets at this hour), Naruto kept a firm grip on Kagome's wrist.

"Naruto-kun, where exactly are we go—"

The two teens made sounds of surprise when they were unexpectedly jerked backwards.

"Yes, Naruto, where exactly _are_ you going?"

They both turned their heads around to see the culprit who had just spoken, but only one seemed to recognize the intimidating _bald_ male holding them by the backs of their shirts.

"Ah, Renkotsu-sensei!"

End of chapter.

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><p>an: ah, I did it again! Then again, the story is called meddlesome for a reason, hahah.

Any suggestions on who should be the third person in Kagome's squad? I was thinking maybe Bankotsu, or Sai...


	7. You Have it Wrong, Sensei!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto**

A big hug and thanks to all my readers!

It has been decided! Squad 11 consists of: Inuyasha, Nara Kagome and... Sai. Add the level-headed Renkotsu and you have yourself one crazy team. :)

But don't worry: Bankotsu **will** be in the story! I like Kagome Yuki Niwa's idea of him being a rival for Kagome's love...

Also, there are going to be a lot of people who don't get paired up with anybody, so... :)

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><p>'Typical,' was Renkotsu's initial thought as his sharp gaze focused solely on his silly, little student, 'she gets caught in a questionable situation and she <strong>still<strong> has the gall to smile.' The man cleared his throat. "Kagome, do you have any idea what time it is? Does your father know you're out this late?"

The smile on Kagome's face straightened into a frown. "Yeah, he does. He sent Shikamaru after me to make sure I didn't run into any trouble."

"Is that so?" Renkotsu muttered as he quirked an eyebrow before sparing Naruto a glance. "Well, from what I see, your big brother didn't do a very good job at doing what your father asked him to do."

"I'm not—" Naruto tried to protest when Kagome beat him to it. "No Renkotsu-sensei, you have it all wrong! Naruto-kun here just saved me from being stuck in a really awkward situation with Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha?" the bald man repeated. "Did you two get into another fight?"

"Not necessarily," muttered the blue eyed girl as she looked away from her sensei. A darker set of blue eyes landed on her. "Do you and Inuyasha fight a lot?" Naruto questioned, not really expecting that bit of information. Then again, Shikamaru had told him once that Kagome had a temper that rivaled Sakura's...

"More so than you can even imagine," answered Renkotsu for her as he recalled all the bickering and arguing and drama... He then brought the conversation back to its main point. "So, Kagome, if Naruto-kun saved you like you said he did, then why was he leading you in the opposite direction from where you live?"

Kagome didn't have an answer for that. So, she turned towards Naruto, hoping he did.

The blond began to sputter. "Uh... bad sense of direction?"

"_Obviously_," snapped Renkotsu before flashing out of sight, the two teenagers still in his grasp.

* * *

><p>"Dad, Kagome's gonna freak out if she sees you glued to the window like that."<p>

"I hope she does. Maybe that'll teach her a lesson of going out late at night," was Shikaku's response before he spared his youngest child, who, like Kagome, looked more like his wife than him, a glance. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Nara Souta sighed and he too looked out the window. "Yeah. But I heard Shikamaru walk in a couple a minutes ago without sis. It kinda worried me."

"Yeah, your brother doesn't do a very good job at listening to your old man," Shikaku muttered before putting some thought into what Shikamaru had told him when he had walked into the house.

_'Before you bite my head off, know that I'm tired, Kagome said she'll be back in a few, and the next time you want to send a spy after her, you can send Souta.' _

"Hey Souta," the Nara patriarch began when Souta's eyes suddenly widened before the young boy squinted.

"Dad, look! Isn't that Kagome's sensei?"

Shikaku looked.

And sure enough, there, outside his door, was Renkotsu, holding both his daughter and the nine tails jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto.

End of Chapter.


	8. I'm Innocent!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto!**

A big thanks to all my readers! :)

I cannot write confrontations to save my life, hahah.

* * *

><p>"I don't believe this," muttered Shikaku to himself. A thousand possibilities of why Kagome could have been caught with Uzumaki Naruto ran through his head. Not a single one appealed to him. "Souta, go upstairs," he ordered.<p>

Unlike his other two children, Souta listened and did what he was told _without_ uttering a single complaint.

With a sigh, Shikaku walked to the front door and opened it, coming face to face with the features of a composed jounin instructor.

The two teenagers in his hold, not so much.

"Good evening, Shikaku. I believe this," Renkotsu began in that all knowing tone of his as he gently pushed Kagome in her father's direction, "belongs to you."

"Don't treat me like I'm some sort of possession," mumbled Kagome, although her comment went ignored.

"Kagome, what's going on?" Shikaku asked as he grabbed her arm to keep her from walking off, a bad habit of hers that usually showed up whenever she was stuck in a situation she didn't want to be in—such as this one.

"Nothing's going on, Renkotsu-sensei is just overreacting," Kagome informed him before looking back at her teacher. "Sensei, can you please let go of Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, sensei, please let go of Naruto-kun," the blond repeated to the older male as he glared up at him.

Renkotsu glared back, then met Shikaku's gaze, silently asking for his opinion.

"Let him go," the oldest Nara agreed.

Naruto took a few steps to the side the moment he was unhanded. "Thank you!" He exclaimed, though his tone was more annoyed than thankful.

Renkotsu was just as aggravated. "Now can you explain to us why you were dragging Kagome off to some unknown location?" he snapped.

Shikaku's sympathy dissolved at those words, and his overprotective daddy mode went into overdrive. Shikaku took a rather intimidating step forward: a rather surprising move from the typically mellow Nara. "He was doing _what_?"

Kagome was quick to voice her disapproval of her father's unnecessary outburst and she grabbed his upper arm, preventing him from going anywhere. "Dad!"

"Oh, come on! I'm innocent!" Complained Naruto, finally getting the chance to defend himself and using it wisely since Shikaku looked like he wanted to punch him in the face. "Kagome was put in a really crappy situation so I helped her! I really wasn't paying attention to where I was going: I was just taking her away from Ichiraku!"

Kagome gave a stern nod. "And that's all there is to it."

The two older males at the scene shared a glance. "What happened at Ichiraku?" Shikaku asked, still suspicious but willing to listen.

"Well, that jerk, Inuyasha—" Naruto started then stopped when the Nara patriarch lifted a hand.

"That's all you have to say," he explained, no stranger to the bizarre relationship between Kagome and her irrational teammate. If whatever happened involved _that_ boy, then there was a very good chance that what Naruto was saying was true.

All this meant was that he was going to have to talk with him _again_.

However, Renkotsu was not done interrogating him. "So you _didn't_ have any questionable intentions?" He might have appeared a little rude to the boy, but Kagome was his student, and it was his job to look after his team.

Naruto shook his head. "No!"

"Alright, that's enough," Shikaku butt in, seeing that Renkotsu was about to ask the poor boy another question. "Naruto, you can leave now," he let the blond know, running a calloused hand over his forehead to try and nudge away that incoming headache...

A sigh of relief passed through the teenage Uzumaki's lips. "Sweet! See you later, Kagome! And baldy!" Naruto said with a grin before disappearing.

"Baldy?" Renkotsu repeated, his hand coming up to caress his head out of reflex. "Damn that boy! Thinks he's so sly..." He cursed, his calm composure dropping at that one word. He then redirected narrowed eyes towards a giggling Kagome.

She _knew_ how sensitive he was about this topic and she had the audacity to laugh?

"S-sorry, sensei," she apologized while trying to stifle her giggles. She didn't look very sorry.

"Kagome," Shikaku warned, though there was an amused glint in his dark orbs too.

Like a small child, Renkotsu grumbled to himself and turned around, ready to leave. It was a sight that was rarely ever seen from the man.

"Don't forget about the meeting tomorrow, Kagome," he growled before he too was gone.

The Nara household was once again surrounded by a tranquil silence.

However, Shikaku needed to make sure Kagome understood something.

"Is it your sole intention in life to make me worry? I'm going to die an early death because my teenage daughter can't stay out of trouble," he groused, serious again while his eyes darted over to where the troublesome girl had last been standing...

...only to see that she was gone.

He sighed.

He had _known_ the moment the doctor had told both him and his wife that she had given birth to a girl and not a boy like they had expected that his daughter was going to be a handful.

End of Chapter.


	9. All Ends Well?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto!**

A BIG thanks to all my wonderful readers! You're all awesome~

* * *

><p>"This is all so troublesome."<p>

Despite the fact that her older brother was clearly annoyed, Kagome couldn't help but offer him a sheepish smile. "It could be worse."

Ever the overprotective father, Shikaku had been sure to let Shikamaru know at breakfast that he was to walk Kagome to where her team was scheduled to meet. No ditching her this time either, or there would be "severe consequences."

"_Just in case things get out of hand," _had been his reasoning with a pointed glare directed solely at his wayward son.

Shikamaru sighed. It wasn't like Kagome had gotten into any serious trouble the night before. From what he had gathered, the ever hyperactive Naruto had just overreacted and as a result, the entire situation seemed a lot worse than it actually was. Contrary to popular belief, Inuyasha and Kagome **could** talk out their problems when they really wanted to. He had seen it once before. Also, despite all the fights, they really were close friends. They just chose a unique way to show it.

Kagome suddenly patted his arm, grabbing his attention. "Shikamaru, you don't have to walk me all the way to the Hokage tower. You've done enough. I won't tell dad if you decide to leave now."

It was a tempting offer and for a second, he really had been ready to take it.

However...

"Forget it," was his answer. "Dad'll know. He _always_ knows."

He felt his sister's eyes linger on his face for a bit, as if she were searching for something. After a couple of seconds, she looked away, her blue eyes warm and her lips slightly curved up in a sweet smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she said.

"No, I _am_ right," Shikamaru retorted. But even he couldn't stop the slight twitch of his own lips, because their family was just... _odd_.

They arrived at the Hokage tower a few minutes later, and once they came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, Shikamaru shoved one hand into an empty pocket and made sure to give his little sister a firm stare.

"Don't get yourself into any trouble," was his order, complete with his infamous scowl.

"I'll try," was her halfhearted response. With that promise, her older brother went on his way.

Kagome's smile dampened a bit as she watched his departing back. In all truth, she felt bad that Shikamaru was usually assigned as her bodyguard when clearly, he didn't like the job. How she wished that their father would lay off just a _little_...

Deciding to have a talk with him when she returned home, Kagome turned in the direction that both Sai and Inuyasha were approaching from.

'Here we go,' she thought.

"Hello, Kagome," Sai greeted once he was mere feet from her. He had learned long ago that calling his teammates by anything other than their given names was **not** a good idea. Not unless he wanted to be injured for two weeks at the least.

"Hey Sai," Kagome waved. She spared Inuyasha a cautious glance. "Hi Inuyasha."

His golden eyes met her blue ones. She could see some worry in them. "Keh."

Kagome smiled. He hadn't said much, but his response to her greeting had lifted a weight off of her shoulders: it let her know there was no tension or anything of the sort between them, and that everything was alright.

For now.

* * *

><p>"And you wanna know what he said? He said he would blow Miroku's nuts off if he ever came near me again! And then he sent me to my room to 'think about my actions!' What's wrong with him? He acts as if I'm some little kid not capable of taking care of myself!"<p>

Chouji, who was merely sitting in front of his friend and digging into a bag of chips, produced barely audible chuckles. But Ino wasn't done venting. "And it's all cause _Kagome_ had to rat me out to her dad! That traitor! After all I did for her too! What's wrong with her? She's broken **the** most important rule ever between friends: don't snitch!"

"Are you kidding? You know how Shikaku is when it comes to Kagome: he probably nagged her until she got sick of him and told him everything," Chouji defended.

Ino wouldn't hear it. "That doesn't mean anything! Kagome should just keep her damn mouth—"

"You should probably know that Kagome didn't tell our dad. He overheard her telling me everything that happened this morning," Came Shikamaru's apathetic voice as the Nara chuunin finally joined the two members of team 10.

Fists clenched, Ino turned towards her lazy friend. "That's no excuse!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Come on, Ino. You're the one who meddled into the situation in the first place."

"_No_, Miroku came onto _me_!"

"Sure," Chouji mumbled, wishing his blond teammate would quiet down a _little_, "just like all the other ones did."

Ino bristled and took a step towards him. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Fortunately, Chouji was saved from Ino's wrath when a familiar voice joined in the uptight conversation. "Well, it's great to see that you guys are getting along, as always."

Three pairs of eyes turned to find Asuma standing behind them, cigarette in his mouth, like usual.

"What's going on?" Their sensei questioned. He looked from Chouji, to Shikamaru, to Ino, expecting an answer.

He didn't get one.

"Okay," Asuma said as he scratched the back of his head, not really used to dealing with this sort of thing. But then again...

Something in his gut told him this was going to be an awkward day...

* * *

><p>Waiting in Tsunade's office wasn't all that fun. Especially since two out of the four members of squad 11 weren't exactly in the best of moods.<p>

"I hope none of you were expecting a 'fun' mission today. Because thanks to _certain_ events," Renkotsu cast Kagome a snippy stare, prompting her to stare out a nearby window, "I have decided to sign us all up for a mission that I think none of you are going to like."

"What? Why?" Immediately protested Inuyasha, who was already irritated thanks to the bald man, who had showed up _ten_ minutes late.

Renkotsu glared at him. "Because life isn't all fun and games, Inuyasha."

"Perhaps this has something to do with your lack of hair? I suspect that it is your insecurity speaking," Sai commented and once again, despite the tension, Kagome had to hold back her laughter.

Renkotsu grit his teeth. Not this again! "No!" He shouted, "but it _does_ have something to do with," the bald man pointed at Sai, "_your_ lack of emotion," then to Kagome, "_your_ inability to _control_ your emotions," then last but not least, Inuyasha, "and _your_ attitude!" he snapped. These kids had no idea how _crazy_ they drove him!

The three teenagers all shared a glance before they stared at their fuming sensei.

Sai opened his mouth once again. "I suspect old age contributes to his anger as well."

Inuyasha and Kagome nodded in agreement.

"Why you—!"

Footsteps suddenly echoed from out in the hall, and team 11 instantly quieted down (although steam continued to shoot out of Renkotsu's ears). The handle to the door wriggled for a bit before it turned sideways, signaling someone was coming in. The door slightly opened, and a head of spiky silver hair poked in. A dark eye shone in recognition and closed in a u formation as the infamous copy ninja lifted a hand in greeting.

"Pardon the intrusion," said Hatake Kakashi as the door swung open and in entered the famed squad seven.

End of Chapter.


	10. 7 Plus 11 Equals 63

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto~**

Woohoo, I'm on a roll! :D

* * *

><p>"You've got to be kidding me," muttered Inuyasha as he watched the arrogant Uchiha Sasuke, violent Haruno Sakura and idiotic Uzumaki Naruto file right on into Tsunade's office. Just as Kagome opened her mouth to greet them, Inuyasha loudly blurted out, "what the fuck are they doing here?"<p>

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled at him for his expletive.

Ignoring Inuyasha's comment (although Renkotsu did hit the foul mouthed youth over the side of the head), Naruto directed a grin towards Kagome. "Hey, Kagome!" He greeted with a relaxed wave. His blue eyes then slowly slid over to a frowning Inuyasha, his eyes closed in a semi-annoyed pose. "And _you_." Then to Sai, his scowl only deepening. "And _you_."

In his eyes, Sai was just as bad as Inuyasha. Not only did the completely stoic ninja have practically no facial expressions _whatsoever _(at least from what he had observed)_,_ but he also had this horrible habit of calling him _dickless_. How rude and uncalled for was that? In fact, the only person worth taking to in squad 11 was Kagome, since she was the only nice one.

Inuyasha bristled at the careless greeting. "Why you—don't you dare think that you're off the—" Kagome decided to cut in right then and there, "Inuyasha!" She exclaimed in that 'you'd better listen to me' tone of hers. Then, to the other occupants of the room, "hey, Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-kun," she greeted.

She got two grins in return: she really wasn't expecting any sort of verbal response from Sasuke.

Wanting to show that he was as courteous as his female teammate was, Sai decided to speak up. "Hello dickless, hag and—"

"Don't you _dare_ give me one of those ridiculous nicknames," Sasuke interrupted with cold eyes.

Sai blinked. "Ridiculous?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "Keh, don't listen that bastard, Sai. Thinks he's all high and mighty, just cause he's an _Uchiha_..."

Sasuke leveled him with a glare. "That's an amusing thing to hear, coming from you."

"Keh! At least _my_ squad doesn't need to use our names to gain any recognition around here!"

"That's insignificant: after all, there's no way you guys even compare to us," Sasuke said in that cool tone of his.

Inuyasha smirked in that typical cocky manner of his. "Whatever, Uchiha. There's a reason we're number 1 _twice_."

A mocking snort from the Uchiha caused him to glare, prompting Sakura to return that angry stare while Naruto continued to scowl. For a second there, it really looked like things were about to get out of hand...

...and then Kagome gave Inuyasha's arm a stern poke. "Come on, Inuyasha, this is getting ridiculous—knock it off!" Sai nodded as his dark eyes took on a pensive glaze. Whether his next statement was directed towards Inuyasha or Sasuke, nobody knew. "I believe your arrogance is meant to make up for something you are lacking. Perhaps, like Naruto, you are dic—"

His comment was cut off when Renkotsu hit him over the head.

"All of you, stop this unnecessary bantering," The bald man growled. He was pretty sure he had the worlds biggest headache, and he had the six teenagers to blame.

Naruto pointed a finger in his direction. "Hey, baldy! You're not our sensei: you can't tell us what to do!" However, just like Renkotsu had done to Sai, Sakura took the liberty of shutting her loudmouth teammate with force, AKA a punch to the head.

"Naruto!" She yelled, "he might not be our sensei, but he's still someone of higher authority! You know what that means?" She didn't bother waiting for the blond to answer, "It means you _have_ to listen to him!"

"But he's mean!" Naruto complained.

"And bald," added Sai.

"Sai!" Kagome protested.

While the group of teenagers continued to argue amongst themselves, the two teachers wisely kept their distance from all the chaos.

"Well, I'm glad we're all getting along," said Kakashi as he stared at the outside scenery.

Renkotsu grumbled to himself and looked in the other direction.

When Tsunade finally walked into her office, she was more than surprised to see the two loudest of all the squads in Konohagakure waiting in total silence.

Her amber eyes darted from face to face in suspicion. "Is something wrong?" She questioned, mainly to the two adults in the room.

Kakashi merely cleared his throat, but Renkotsu was quick to speak his mind.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, there is something wrong."

Tsunade raised a thin eyebrow. "Then speak up!"

Both squads perked up, wondering what the rather touchy sensei would say.

"You see," Renkotsu began, "I originally wanted to punish my squad by teaming them up with squad 7 to do some fairly trivial mission. Clearly though, that would only be punishment for myself, so I wish to—"

"Denied," cut in Tsunade without any remorse. "I already have your mission set up so it would be a complete embarrassment for the village if you were to back out of it now."

"So this is a joint mission?" Asked Kagome as she eyed the dysfunctional team 7.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. And it isn't as trivial as your sensei might think," she revealed as she made her way over to her desk. She sat down and the air around her changed: that casual gleam in her eyes disappeared as she went straight to business mode.

"How do you guys feel about cleaning a shrine for a well respected priestess?"

The protests immediately began.

"That's so lame!" Naruto growled out and Inuyasha agreed with the blond, for once. "Give us something else!" the golden eyed male demanded.

"Too late," was Tsunade's answer as she handed over the file with all the details to Kakashi. "I expect you guys to leave it nice and spiffy for the woman. And if you don't," an evil look darkened the blond's features, "then don't bother coming back here."

Inuyasha attempted to hide behind Kagome while Naruto looked ready to jump out a window: both males were clearly frightened of the older woman.

Sakura and Kagome shared a glance.

It was going to be a _long_ day.

End of Chapter.

* * *

><p>an: oh, I'm so mean to Renkotsu! XD

And a priestess? But it might not be who you think it is... ;)


	11. Would you Defend me too?

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Naruto do not belong to me!**

Yay for people remembering all the priestesses from Inuyasha! But you're all wrong.

Hahah, just kidding! :D

Long chapter alert, long chapter alert!

* * *

><p>The shrine they were assigned to clean was like any other ordinary shrine in the village. It wasn't grand in size and had no distinctive features. Or even that dirty, for that matter.<p>

And yet...

"I _hate_ cleaning."

Sakura shot her blond teammate an annoyed glance. They had been the first two to get the cleaning materials they needed and were now waiting for everyone else in a dank room that contained quite a few scrolls that were strewn about the room. "Yeah, anyone who has seen your apartment knows that!"

A smiling Kagome cut in between the two teammates, broom in one hand and bucket full of cleaning products in the other. "I'm sure Naruto-kun's apartment isn't as bad as Inuyasha's."

A distant "I heard that!" came from a couple of rooms down, making the female Nara's smile glow just a little more. It proved to be a bit contagious as Sakura and Naruto couldn't help but smile too. Then the pink haired kunoichi of team 7 remembered a question that had been formed in her head the moment she had laid eyes on the elaborate shrine. "So how exactly are we gonna do this? There's six of us—eight if Kakashi-sensei and Renkotsu-sensei do anything, but the shrine isn't all that big..."

"We could pair up," suggested Kagome.

"If that's the case, then I call Kagome!" Naruto suddenly shouted while wrapping his fingers around said girl's small wrist and dragging her out of the room, just as Sasuke was walking in.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled after him while Renkotsu, who had been standing in one corner of the room by his lonesome self while Kakashi stood in the other, nearly exploded from irritation.

"I don't think you really have to worry about Naruto being alone with Kagome-chan," Kakashi reassured the irate man. "He won't do anything to hurt her."

Renkotsu slowly turned to face him. "That's _hardly_ the issue."

Sakura fiercely nodded. "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei, I don't want to be paired with Inuyasha or Sai!"

"That's not the issue either," Renkotsu grumbled as he ran a tense hand over his hairless head.

"What are we getting paired up for?" Sasuke asked with a glare directed towards Kakashi. Sure, Naruto and Inuyasha had the mentality of a five year old, but he was pretty sure the rest of them were capable of cleaning a measly shrine that _wasn't even all that dirty_. Kakashi merely closed his visible eye in a smile as he beamed at his brooding student.

"To work on relationships with people you don't work with on a regular basis," he answered, before Sakura could claim the Uchiha as her cleaning partner.

"What's going on?" asked Inuyasha as he and Sai finally made their appearance.

Feeling that wonderful emotion known as revenge, Renkotsu momentarily forgot about Kagome and shot his other two incredibly bothersome students a devilish smirk. "Inuyasha, say hello to your partner for the day, Sasuke-kun, and Sai, say hello to Sakura-chan."

"No way," both Inuyasha and Sasuke growled out, only to throw each other a nasty glare for being in sync.

Meanwhile, Sai raised a hand to the awfully silent kunoichi with the obnoxious hair. "Hello, hag."

And before the threats and shouts and beatings began, Kakashi and Renkotsu disappeared in two separate puffs of smoke.

* * *

><p>Sai found out rather quickly that with Haruno Sakura, it was best to only speak to her when she spoke to you. Because, while both her and Kagome were similar in the sense that they both had incredibly frightening tempers, Sakura took it to a whole other level by going on violent rampages when she was mad. Sort of like Inuyasha.<p>

"So Sai," Sakura began in a conversational manner while she swept, instantly alarming Sai. "I noticed that you call Inuyasha or Kagome by their actual names. Don't you have nicknames for them?"

Sai looked at her. "Yes, I do."

The pink haired kunoichi shot him a pointed glance. _Seriously_? it said. "Well, what are they?"

To her complete and utter shock, Sai smiled—and it looked _real_. "Well, they have quite a few... but Inuyasha is cocky and Kagome is crybaby."

"..._Cocky _and c_rybaby_?" Sakura repeated. What was it with Sai and naming guys after that specific male organ? And crybaby? In all her years of knowing her, she had yet to see Kagome cry.

...then again, it wasn't like she saw Kagome on a regular basis.

"Yes. I'm sure you understand cocky. As for crybaby, Kagome used to cry a lot back in our days as genin, particularly whenever Inuyasha and I got hurt."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "That's normal though, right?"

That eerie smile went away and Sai's gaze wandered, his eyes following the plain pattern of the closest screen door. "It was not normal for me."

With those words, Sakura remembered just _who_ she was talking to.

"Seeing Kagome cry is not pleasant," the pale artist of squad 11 informed her. "It wasn't back then and it still isn't now."

Curious, Sakura pressed on. "Why?"

"Because she is my friend."

Quite honestly, Sakura had thought Sai was going to say 'because she looks ugly when she cries' or something similar to that. So his answer actually startled her. It didn't seem like something Sai would say at all.

She then frowned, his words fully processing in her mind. "But we're _all_ friends! And you know that Naruto's not..." she couldn't say the word, but continued on with a flush, "and that I'm not a hag! Yet you still continue to call us those ridiculous names!"

Sai closed his eyes, the smile—this was a fake one, Sakura just _knew _it—returning. "It's different with you two. Inuyasha and Kagome are..." the dark haired male tried to find the right way to word it, "closer to me than you and Naruto are."

"They also threaten to beat you up if you do call them by those names, right?" Sakura muttered as she continued to sweep in a harsh manner, the wood of the broom straining under her fierce grip.

"Yes, that has something to do with it," Sai replied, a faint amusement present in his dark orbs. "But regardless, they are my friends."

"We're all friends, Sai..." Sakura repeated with a sigh. But she understood. After all, Naruto and Sasuke were closer to her than say, Shikamaru and Chouji were. That's how it was for all the squads. But it was interesting to see how the dynamics of the other squads worked. Especially since she now knew that Sai wasn't a heartless, tactless robot who didn't care about anybody when clearly, he did.

Maybe there _was_ some good to this so-called mission.

"Hag, you missed a spot."

Then again, maybe not.

* * *

><p>Sasuke and Inuyasha, despite being "paired up" by their conniving senseis, went their separate ways the moment Sakura and Sai left.<p>

* * *

><p>"<em>How else am I supposed to retain a sense a holiness in this filth?<em>" Naruto repeated the Priestess's words in a mocking high pitched tone as he lay on his back on a floor that contained _no dirt_ as far as he was concerned. An abandoned wash cloth lay beside him. "Can you believe her? This place isn't even dirty!"

Kagome couldn't help but laugh at his impression. She was on her knees, a few feet from him, wiping away the couple of visible splotches of grime that she saw. "Maybe Tsubaki-sama is—"

"—completely lazy. She should clean her non-dirty shrine by herself!"

"But she's a very busy woman. She is a priestess, after all."

Naruto snorted. "And what does a priestess do, exactly?"

Kagome sucked in a breath, preparing to say something. However, no words came out, because in all actuality, she had _no idea_ what priestesses did. But Kaede, a good friend of the Nara clan and a woman who contained more knowledge than anyone else in the _world_, was a priestess. So what did _she_ do? "A priestess, um... meditates, and..."

"And retains a sense of holiness?"

"Naruto-kun, that's not nice," Kagome lightly scolded, but even she couldn't stop from grinning.

They remained silent for a moment, a rather surprising thing to happen considering who they were.

"Hey, Kagome?"

The blue eyed girl perked up at Naruto's hesitant tone. "Yeah?"

"How... can you stand being in the same team as Sai and Inuyasha? They're both such jerks."

"No, they're not!" Kagome snapped, startling the blond with her sudden and unexpected outburst. Naruto quickly sat up, his hands up in a defensive position.

"S-sorry!" He exclaimed, terrified of that angry glaze in Kagome's eyes. Was this going to be one of those infamous tirades that Shikamaru constantly complained about? He sure hoped not!

Realizing that her temper had once again gotten the better of her (_again_), Kagome sighed and looked away from the shocked look in Naruto's eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "it's just... everybody says that, and I understand _why_, but..." she clenched her fists, "both Inuyasha and Sai are really great guys. Sure, they have their issues, and yeah, they're a little weird and even annoying at times, but who isn't? I just _wish_ people would get to know them before they opened their mouths..."

There was something about Kagome's words that really impacted Naruto in that moment. Maybe it was because he always wondered if Sakura or Sasuke defended him in the same manner that Kagome defended her teammates whenever somebody said something harsh or untrue about him.

After all, he knew what it felt like to be misunderstood too.

Uncomfortable because Naruto wasn't responding, Kagome resumed scrubbing the same persistent smear on the floor that she had been scrubbing for the past ten minutes.

It wouldn't go away!

Kagome pouted, and her eyes remained focused on that smudge that she just could not get rid of. About to give up and move on, she blinked in surprise when another wash cloth held by a hand covered in tanner flesh than her own suddenly covered the dirty spot and began assisting her in wiping it away.

She looked to her right.

"I guess I should help clean this 'filthy' shrine too," Naruto said with a boyish grin.

And for some reason, Kagome's heart fluttered.

End of Chapter.

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><p><strong>an**: yay~

I didn't know what other nicknames to come up with for Inuyasha and Kagome, but I think the ones I chose served their purpose. Yep, yep! And...

There's a fun development next chapter. :D


	12. Operation: Keep the Princess Safe!

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Naruto do not belong to meh!**

You may all thank x0SilverFeathersx0 for the appearance of a certain person at the end of the chapter. :D And, as for when this story takes place... um, I guess around the start of Shippuden. :)

* * *

><p>Quite honestly, when Inuyasha had shown up at his apartment asking for his help, Naruto hadn't really known what to expect.<p>

From the little he knew about Inuyasha, he had guessed that he needed help training, or deciding what flavor of ramen to get at Ichiraku, or something of the sort. So, even though the way he had asked was a bit awkward, Naruto had agreed to aid his fellow shinobi. Because there was no way he could ever deny helping someone, regardless of how shaky their past was. Also, he had been expecting something basic, and easy to do.

Not this.

"I can't do it."

"What do you mean you can't do it? You said you would!"

Naruto turned towards the scowling Inuyasha. "Yeah, well, I changed my mind: I'm not gonna do it!"

Inuyasha grit his teeth and nearly punched a hole in the giant billboard promoting the newest Icha Icha movie they were hiding behind. However, he refrained from doing that, because that would surely give their position away. And that was the last thing he wanted. "Listen Uzumaki, you said you would he—"

"I know what I said!" The blond snapped. "But I wasn't expecting _this_. I just... I can't lie to Kagome."

"Nobody asked you to lie to her—all you have to do is keep her distracted! She's probably already figured out that Sai is just dragging her around in circles and she'll wander off soon if you don't get down there and keep her busy!"

Naruto clenched his fists. He looked down at the street, where Sai and Kagome were. They were both drinking tea, and sitting in the shade of a nearby tree. It had been a week since the mission that involved cleaning Tsubaki's shrine, and he honestly would have chosen to be assigned another mission with just the ever exasperating Inuyasha than being asked to do this. Sure, distracting was different than tricking (and lying), but... "Why don't you go down there and 'distract' her then?" He demanded.

"Damn it, Uzumaki!" The older teen suddenly cursed, raising his hand to run it through his silver bangs. He was obviously irritated. "Look, _I_ can't do it because she'll automatically know something is up. In fact, the only reason Sai is down there with her is cause he would have made things worse if he had gone to get you! Lying to Kagome is just as hard for us as it is for you!"

Naruto closed his eyes. There were those words again... and the loyalty that kept the bond within squad 11 strong.

Not really paying any mind to his silence, Inuyasha went to reveal, "the only reason we're even asking you to do this is cause one, Shikaku asked us and two, none of us want Kagome to even think about a certain creep."

"Creep?" Naruto repeated.

Inuyasha sighed. He had wanted to avoid saying about this, because it wasn't any body's business. But, with his life and Kagome's safety on the line, he figured it was time that Uzumaki Naruto learned just what exactly he had been called for.

Golden eyes slightly narrowed down. This was a bit of a touchy subject. "Do you know Bankotsu?"

Naruto mused on the name. "Bankotsu... it sounds familiar, I guess."

"It should, because he's a jackass with an ego the size of the sun. And he's been trying to get in Kagome's pants for the past two years now."

That was a disturbing thought, considering that Kagome (and most of the rookies) was only 15. Soon, blue eyes shot down in a narrowed gaze too. "Are you serious?"

Inuyasha seemed taken aback a little by the change of attitude. He had exaggerated just a _little_, but with Naruto like this, maybe it was better to just keep on like this. "Yeah. We think Kagome likes him too, because she never tells him off or anything, no matter how touchy feely he gets with her."

Naruto's glare became more of a troubled frown at those words. What was this strange thing he was feeling in the pit of his stomach? It felt a little stronger than just anger. "Why doesn't her father tell him off then? Or Shikamaru, or you, or Sai?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "Are you kidding? Shikaku practically threatened to kill him but Bankotsu still doesn't listen to him, and he doesn't even take Shikamaru seriously. And the asshole acts like me and Sai don't even exist, no matter what we do. Anyways, his squad returns today from a month long mission they were on, and Shikaku asked me, Renkotsu, and Sai to keep Kagome away from the village gates. Or at least to avoid saying anything that'll remind her of his return. But we know we'll screw up at one point or another, so—"

"Alright."

Inuyasha bit back the smirk that threatened to pull at his lips. "What was that?"

Naruto stepped on the ledge of the roof of the building they were on. "I'll help. But only because it's for Kagome."

This time, Inuyasha did smirk. "Good, cause we're countin' on ya."

* * *

><p>Today was the day. Today was the day that Nara Shikaku had been dreading the most for the past month.<p>

Now, he didn't have anything against Fridays in particular. Not at all. In fact, he normally loved Fridays. But it was _this_ particular Friday that really nerved him.

Why?

Because **he** was scheduled to return to the Leaf village today, and whenever **he** was in the village, it meant automatic danger for his little girl. So **his** presence was most unwelcome in Shikaku's eyes and at this moment, he was doing everything in his power to keep Kagome out of trouble's way...

...so that meant drinking at his favorite little pub until he came up with a plan of action. He had already told Kagome's squad what they needed to do, so all he could do now was hope for their success. Because there was no way he was allowing Kagome to even be within 50 feet of Bankotsu—no, _150_.

Or maybe 250?

"Bah," the Nara exhaled, and took another sip of his saké. Who cared about numbers—Bankotsu wasn't allowed near Kagome, **period**. And that was final. Because Bankotsu just was not the type of guy he wanted Kagome to spend the rest of her life with. Granted, she wasn't even allowed to get married until she was 80, but he felt it necessary to separate the good potential suitors from the bad ones.

Bankotsu was number one on the bad potential suitors list.

Hojo Izumi was number one on the good potential suitors lists.

Kagome liked Bankotsu.

Kagome kind of didn't like Hojo.

She and he butted heads on that particular issue quite a bit (and the age she was allowed to get married at; she was pushing for her 20s, but he insisted on 80). She just didn't agree with the few guys he approved of, and it was frustrating! It was one of the woes of being a father with a pretty daughter with a stubborn attitude.

Just as he was about to continue to wallow on his misfortune, a sudden jerk on his shoulders from someone disrupted his musings.

"Shikaku!" A male voice called.

Fortunately, he was still sober, so meeting the intruder's face wasn't much of a problem; tanned skin, ruffled, lengthy hair, pupil-less blue eyes...

It was his good friend and fellow partner in crime, Yamanaka Inoichi.

"Well, well, if it isn't Inoichi. Did you come here to join me in—"

"No, I didn't, Shikaku," the man said in raspy breaths.

"Then what—"

"I need you to come with me," was all Inoichi said before sprinting back out of the bar.

Not really knowing what else to do, Shikaku followed after him.

* * *

><p>For a faint second, Shikaku had believed that Inoichi had brought him to the village gates so that they could ambush Bankotsu the moment he stepped foot in the village. And, while he wasn't necessarily against it, he wanted to make sure of a certain thing.<p>

"You're not planning on doing anything stupid, are you?"

"Of course not. Just _wait_," the blond male persisted before going off on something else. "You want to keep Kagome-chan safe from all the dirty men that plague this village—specifically that no good Bankotsu, don't you?"

"That's low; of course I do."

"Then _wait_. The answer to the constant troubles that both our daughters create will be arriving shortly."

And because they had been comrades for practically two decades now, Shikaku listened and _waited_. And waited.

Then, after about five minutes of just standing there, he saw something. No, _someone_. But they were nothing more than a small dot descending down the path on the hill that led to the village gates.

"There he is," stated Inoichi, seemingly proud. Shikaku didn't understand why. "Your solution to our daughters' boy problems is _another_ boy?" He asked.

For the first time since he had dragged him out of the bar, Inoichi smirked. "No, not just any boy..."

Curiosity peaked, the father of three turned back towards the approaching figure. He couldn't help but wonder just what the hell was going on in Inoichi's head.

He pieced it all together when the figure was close enough. "Inoichi..." he sighed once he recognized the teenager who was now just a few meters away from them. Sure, he hadn't seen the blond boy for a couple of years now, but the resemblance and familiarity were just too striking to pass off. Especially since the glower on the boy's face was very similar to the ones that both Ino and Inoichi made when they were irritated.

Finally, the long haired teenager's face came to stop in front of them and shot his father an even nastier glare than the one he had arrived with.

"What'd you call me here for, old man, hm?"

End of Chapter.


	13. Playing the Hero

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Naruto do not belong to meh!**

My readers are the best! T^T. Thank you all for your kind words!

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><p>He was acting a little strange today. More so than usual.<p>

Fortunately for him though, she was patient. And a little concerned. "Sai, what are you doing? You're the one who said we needed to get up."

The pale boy merely regarded Kagome with thoughtful eyes before he looked off in a random direction.

"I am thinking," he said.

"Yeah? About...?" Kagome drawled. She was almost tempted to sit back down.

"About..." Sai searched for something to say—anything. Just something that would keep her mind busy. He noticed Kagome's bare legs, and thought of her snippy father at the moment. "...About how you need to wear longer skirts. Or perhaps pants. Shorts, even?"

Kagome flushed a dark red and out of reflex, she pulled at the hem of her beige skirt. What a creepy thing for him to notice! She thought her skirt was a perfectly acceptable length, thank you very much! Of course, the males in her family thought otherwise, but they were just overprotective and wanted her to remain single for the rest of her life, she was sure of it!

"I-I don't think that's any of your concern!" She squeaked.

"I believe it is," Sai argued, making things even more awkward when he also grabbed her skirt in an attempt to pull it down so it would cover a bit more skin. "You are my friend. So I must protect you from—" what was that term his book used? Ah, yes— "potential predators."

An incredulous look took over Kagome's features. "What?"

"Men who prey upon girls they find desirable."

"I know what a predator is!"

"Then you should know they target girls who wear short skirts—like you."

"Sai, let go of my skirt!"

"I am merely trying to keep you safe, Kagome."

Both shinobi failed to notice the crowd now gathering around them, curious to see just what all the ruckus was about.

Meanwhile, two pairs of curious eyes watched from their spot on the rooftop up above from where Sai and Kagome were.

Naruto, who was just waiting for the perfect moment to swoop down and take Kagome away, shot Inuyasha a sharp glance. "You guys are _such_ a weird squad." Sure, he knew all the rookies had their quirks, but Sai, Kagome, and Inuyasha were...

He missed Inuyasha's murmur of 'you have no idea,' but he clearly heard the older teen yell, "stop dawdling and go do your damn job!"

Naruto mumbled to himself about pushy people and rose to stand on the ledge of the roof. He remained silent for a few seconds, as if he was deeply thinking about something. And then... "Don't you find it a bit weird that I'm always the one who has to save Kagome from the awkward situations both you and Sai create?" he questioned with a smug smirk before jumping down to the ground.

Inuyasha somehow managed to refrain from biting Naruto's head off at that comment, because that would reveal his position and he didn't want that. But... how could Uzumaki say something like that when this was only the second time he was supposedly going to "save" Kagome?

Just what exactly was the bastard trying to get at?

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed down in suspicion as he watched the idiotic blond jump into the crowd that hovered around his two teammates.

He was starting to think that asking Naruto for help was a mistake.

* * *

><p>Kagome was about five seconds away from smacking Sai upside the head when someone suddenly shouted, "hey, Sai! Over here!"<p>

The crowd erupted into chatter and began looking everywhere for the owner of the voice.

Both Kagome and Sai instantly knew where to look. Their heads snapped up, and—

—they were suddenly engulfed in smoke. Kagome coughed from the sudden attack, and attempted to fan it out while Sai merely sat there, hands still on her person. He didn't even look perturbed in the slightest.

Even when the smoke disbursed and a scantly clad voluptuous blond with pigtails—who everyone recognized as Naruto's infamous Sexy Jutsu counterpart—stood in front of the two teenagers, Sai's expression didn't change.

He merely stared and Kagome gaped. The people that surrounded them looked scandalized.

The female Naruto giggled and grabbed her own skirt. "Is this skirt long enough, Sai-_kun~_" she asked while giving a twirl and practically exposing _everything_.

Mortified, Kagome looked away from the spectacle. However, mortification soon morphed into a startled confusion when she was suddenly whisked off her feet. All she could see when she turned her head was a mix of orange and black.

She looked up.

"Sheesh, the things you get yourself into!" Naruto teased as he met her gaze with a grin.

Kagome huffed and jabbed her finger into his chest. "You're the one who sent your clone in and made things worse!" She protested. Then her gaze softened and she let her hand fall. "I really didn't need help, you know."

Naruto knew. He had just needed some sort of lead into his plan 'operation; distract Kagome!' and Sai had created the perfect opportunity, so he had just worked with it and now, here they were!

Of course, Kagome didn't need to know that...

* * *

><p>There were four things that separated Inoichi's son from the rest of his family.<p>

One, he had a habit of ending his sentences with a distinctive 'hm.'

Two, he believed flowers were the most useless thing in the world.

Three, his abilities revolved around the use of clay, as he claimed he was an 'artist.'

And four, he liked to blow things up.

From what Shikaku remembered, he had left the village not only because he wished to use his "art" on bigger things, but also because he wanted to get away from his family.

So the fact that he had even returned when his father had asked him to was amazing, considering the reason he had left was to get away from him.

"Lemme get this straight, you want me to act like Ino's _bodyguard_?" The teenage Yamanaka asked, setting his cup of saké down with a stern knock. They had returned to the bar Shikaku had been at a mere half hour ago.

Inoichi nodded. "Yes. Your sister has gotten tangled into a mess that I fear she cannot get out of alone. Therefore, I need your help in watching over her."

"I don't care, hm. I'm not gonna do it."

"Deidara," Inoichi warned with a scowl.

"It's her problem, not mine," Deidara told him and continued drinking his saké.

Watching the quarrel as it happened was sort of odd for Shikaku. Mainly because he figured that as the older brother, Deidara would naturally jump at the chance to protect his sister. That was what he had taught Shikamaru to do, and granted, his lazy as hell son wasn't always thrilled to get involved in his sister's affairs, but if he really believed that Kagome was in danger, then he _would_ step in. Even Souta had the habit of acting like the older brother at times.

But to see Deidara act like it was some sort of... _inconvenience_ on his part to take care of his sister—who he hadn't even seen in three years—sort of... _angered_ Shikaku.

In fact, he had half a mind to lecture the difficult boy.

The tense atmosphere only worsened at the arrival of Renkotsu, who instantly looked at Shikaku with grave eyes.

"Don't tell me..." the Nara patriarch sighed.

Renkotsu nodded.

"He's here."

* * *

><p>"Wah~ I can't believe it's been a whole month since we've been in the village!" Cheered a rather feminine looking male as he stretched his arms high above his head, glad to finally be home.<p>

Another male—who had a gentle look on his face—looked around, his gray eyes landing on the Hokage Rock monument off in the distance. "Looks exactly the way we left it," he commented.

"Of course it does, Suikotsu," said the first male, "why would anything change in a month?"

Just as Suikotsu was about to respond to that, another voice answered for him. "You'd be surprised at how many things _can_ change in just a short period of time, Jakotsu."

Jakotsu and Suikotsu looked back to see their third companion approaching them. He had been busy giving their mission report to the guards at the gate, and now that he was finished, he stood besides his comrades with a serene expression on his features.

"That's a strange look for you," Jakotsu said after a few seconds. "Bankotsu-aniki."

The boy's sapphire orbs sparked with mirth as his lips tilted up in a smirk. "Is this better?"

"Much," Jakotsu laughed and amusement shone in Suikotsu's eyes.

They were a powerful group of three. One who relied not on only on each others strength, but also their trust in each other. Of course, nobody paid attention to that tidbit, instead focusing on the fact that they were three shinobi with big muscles and fierce battle faces who always got the job done.

Well, there was one person who _had_ noticed. And she had happened to catch a certain someone's eye...

Bankotsu began moving forward, intent on finding her.

"I wonder where Kagome is."

End of Chapter.

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><p>an: My gosh, all the meddling that these people do, hahah.

I knooooow Deidara has no relation to the Yamanakas in the original storyline, but hey, it's AU, sooo... heheh.

And... prepare for some serious Naruto/Kagome bonding in the next chapter! :D


	14. Two People with the Same Mind

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Naruto do not belong to me!**

a/n: so I lied. I said that this chapter would have some serious Naruto/Kagome bonding. Not the case. I meant next chapter. :D

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><p>If Kagome thought it was strange that Naruto was leading her into a mainly civilian populated area, she didn't say anything about it.<p>

Actually, she wasn't saying much at all. And it was freaking him out. The Kagome he and everyone else knew _excelled_ in the fine art of speaking. Yet, the Kagome walking behind him was as silent as a mouse. She made no effort to talk to him, which was strange, considering she'd seemed just fine a mere ten minutes ago. So what had changed?

Naruto found that he didn't like the possible answers to that question.

What if Kagome was already beginning to figure things out? No, what if she _already knew_ that Inuyasha had asked him to keep her busy so that she wouldn't think of Bonkutsa or whatever his name was? Or, what if she was planning on ditching him because she was so mad at him that she couldn't stand being in his presence?

Things wouldn't end well if any of those possibilities were the case. For him, anyway. Knowing his luck though, things were bound to end badly regardless of what he did.

'Not today though!' Naruto attempted to reassure himself. 'Because this is something I can't fail at! I have to keep Kagome safe and away from that guy!'

But how exactly did a guy keep a teenage girl's mind pre-occupied so that she wouldn't think of her creepystalkernon-boyfriendperson's return to the village?

He wished he knew! At the least, he had figured that if he brought her to a place where not many shinobi ventured, he could keep her from thinking anything ninja related. After that though, he was at a loss.

A touch on the shoulder ceased his thoughts and nearly caused him a heart attack. "Naruto-kun?"

The blond boy yelped and practically jumped 20 feet in the air. His already spiky hair stood straight up, and he looked as if someone had just given him the shock of his life.

"Ah, sorry," Kagome apologized while trying not to laugh, "but you look so worried. Is everything okay?"

Naruto attempted to laugh her observation off, but it just came out as an awkward chuckle. "Me? _Worried_? Never! You're seeing things, Kagome! I'm fine!"

Kagome did not look convinced. "If you say so…"

"I know so! What's more, _you're_ the one who looks worried!"

She blinked. "Really?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! I mean, you're being all quiet and it's _weird_…"

"Huh," Kagome began, "I was being quiet because _you_ were being quiet."

"I was just thinking!" Naruto countered, "nothing more!"

Once again, Kagome didn't appear to be convinced, but she dropped the matter. "Well, I'm not worried. And if I did look worried, it was only because I thought you were worried."

Naruto carelessly shrugged. "Well, I'm not worried either," he lied.

Blue clashed with blue as they stared at one another.

After a couple of moments, Naruto's face flushed red, and he focused his gaze elsewhere. "Hey, how about—"

The whole world came to a standstill when he spotted the last two people he wanted to see at the moment—not because he didn't want to see them, but because they would undoubtedly complicate things.

He grabbed Kagome's wrist and yanked her—as gently as he could while in a hurry—towards the closest alley. The girl stumbled but managed to regain her footing, all while Naruto threw himself against the wall and remained as close to it as possible. It seemed sort of pointless, though, considering that he was still very much visible to the public.

Kagome decided not to say anything about it and instead, she took a step closer to him. "What's wrong?"

Naruto lifted his pointer finger in front of his mouth in a shushing motion and gestured towards the pink haired girl and her dark haired companion standing in front of a fancy looking café just a few feet from where they were.

Kagome's eyes grew round. "Hey, that's—"

"Sakura-chan and Sasuke," Naruto groaned, cursing his rotten luck. There was no doubt in his mind that they had been there a while. A _long_ while. To make matters worse, both of his teammates had irritated expressions on their faces, and he could _tell_ they were just seconds away from tearing everything within 20 feet apart.

"Are you one hundred percent positive you haven't seen him at all today?" The Uzumaki and Nara heard Sakura ask in a strained voice. "I mean, I know he sleeps in every now and then but he usually shows up within the hour. _Unlike Kakashi-sensei._"

Somehow, they managed to hear Sasuke's cold answer. "I keep telling you I haven't seen him since yesterday. So stop asking."

"The bastard sounds pissed," Naruto murmured to himself.

Kagome mulled over that. "Sakura-chan sounds angrier."

"It's when she starts to yell that you have to worry. Sasuke, on the other hand, is the brooding type. Even though he doesn't sound as mad as Sakura-chan, you can tell by how snippy his voice sounds that he's freakin' pissed."

A slow smile spread across Kagome's lips. "How admirable for you to notice such things."

"Y-you think so?" Naruto sheepishly chuckled as he ran tanned fingers through his spiky hair. His good humor disappeared however when Sakura's voice reverberated through the street. "He promised to meet us here though, at 12:15 sharp, in front of this stupid café! It's almost two now!" She yapped while stomping her foot, startling a few passersby and some of the customers at the open bistro. "Where the hell is he?"

"Sakura, _calm down_," Sasuke bit out, only for the kunoichi to respond with a stingy, "No!"

In his and Kagome's hiding spot, Naruto tried his best to ignore his friend's rant and tried to think of the possible reasons why Sakura and Sasuke would be here, in this particular area, of all places. Also, when had he agreed to meet them here? In front of some cliché civilian café? And why—

It hit him then. 'Oooohhhh, that's riiiiight,' he remembered, 'our team meeting…' He had completely forgotten about it! It hadn't even crossed his mind when Inuyasha had asked him to help him a while ago!

He gulped. 'Ah crap.'

Kagome noticed how pale he had turned. "Naruto-kun? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded, "we're in trouble."

They both froze when they heard Sakura abruptly yell, "So, Naruto thinks it's okay to mimic Jiraiya-sama's perverted ways _and_ Kakashi-sensei's habit of showing up late? I'll _pummel_ him!"

Naruto blanched and Kagome's expression turned sympathetic. "I can explain the situation to them if you—"

"NO!" Naruto cut her off, rather loudly. In fact, it seemed to echo throughout the suddenly quiet street.

"NA-RU-TO."

All color left said boy's face when Sakura stressed his name in that way that told him terrible, terrible things were about to happen to him.

If he wasn't worried before, he sure as hell was worried now.

For a brief second, he really considered just surrendering and letting his teammates lecture and beat him. After all, it wasn't as if he could hide from them forever, and he had learned long ago that Sakura and Sasuke could hold one hell of a grudge. '_You can run, but you can't hide, Naruto,' _he heard Sakura say in his mind as she cracked her knuckles and her eyes glowed red.

But the more persistent side of him cheered, 'Ah, come on Naruto! You're the Leaf Village's number one prankster! Your stealth is off the charts and you're just a few years away from becoming—!'

Somehow someway, Kagome managed to catch him off guard by grabbing his hand and directing him down the alley and in the opposite direction of the two angry members of squad 7.

"Come on!" the female Nara said with such a determined gleam in her blue eyes that it surprised the blond. "We have to hide!"

Naruto's musings and words jumbled together as he and Kagome tumbled into the following street and went straight through the doors of the closest store. Without paying much mind to how much force she used, she led him to the nearest display and crouched down behind it so that she was hidden. Once that was done, she yanked on Naruto's wrist so that he fell down beside her.

Naruto's breathe left him as Kagome turned towards him, her face flushed, hair tussled, and eyes bright with adrenaline.

"That was a close call, huh?" She said.

"Ye…what was that all about?" Naruto inquired, his eyes wide and contemplative.

There was no hesitation in her answer. "I didn't—I _don't_ want to see you get yelled at. Plus, you save me all the time too, right?" Kagome confessed in a voice so sincere, that Naruto felt his face burn red in embarrassment.

Not many people cared about him like this. Not many people cared about what happened to him, period. To this day, he still received sneers from those who thought he didn't deserve the honor of being a shinobi from Konohagakure.

It made him feel elated to know that Kagome was one of the few who did. She _cared_.

What _was_ this feeling? It felt like gratitude, but, perhaps it was something stronger? He didn't know how to word it. It was like…he felt…

"We'll just wait in here until everything has cooled over," Kagome suddenly remarked with a smile.

Naruto continued to watch her before he slowly smiled back. "Sakura-chan will probably be mad for an hour. Sasuke-teme will probably stay pissed for two, though."

"Then I guess we'll stay hidden for two hours," Kagome laughed before she let her eyes gaze around the shop. All she saw were unique displays of sharp weapons and various types of ancient armor. But this wasn't any ordinary armor. It looked like…armor from long ago. From the _Feudal Era, _perhaps. She glanced over at Naruto once again.

"What shop are we in?" She questioned while she peered from left to right.

"I thought you knew," Naruto replied with a weak chuckle, pushing aside all his perplexing thoughts for the moment. "Isn't this just any old weapons shop?"

"Well, yeah, but…everything looks _old_."

"Like, Ero-sennin old," Naruto consented.

"I'd say older than that still." Kagome added when she noticed a giant, tan boomerang hanging on the back wall in all its polished glory.

"Gah, that looks dangerous," noted Naruto and his blue eyed companion nodded in agreement.

"It _is_ dangerous," said a new voice—a voice that definitely belonged to a female. "Especially in the hands of a person who knows how to use it."

Naruto and Kagome shared a wide-eyed glance before they both glanced to their left.

There stood a woman (who appeared to be in her early 20's) with piercing dark eyes, and a tall, slender figure. She was pretty, but she looked like the no-nonsense type. She also looked like she didn't appreciate the fact that they were using her shop as a hiding spot.

Kagome's blue eyes widened as she recognized her.

"Sango-san!"

End of chapter.


	15. You Tried

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto!**

a/n: I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but there is no Akatsuki. I think I've made the story too lighthearted to bring in such a group of badasses. :D

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight," a peeved Nara Shikaku began, "You," he pointed at Inuyasha, "went to Naruto-kun to ask him for help while <em>knowing<em> that he's unpredictable and spontaneous and now, you can't find him _or_ Kagome?"

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad," Inuyasha murmured while avoiding looking the displeased patriarch in the eye.

"That **is** bad," Shikaku verified, his voice intimidating and frightening. "I told you to watch over Kagome, not hand off the job to someone else."

"I didn't think Uzumaki would do something like this!" Inuyasha defended.

"That is the problem: you never think," said Sai.

The golden eyed boy glared at his nonchalant teammate. "Don't you start! You could have prevented all this from happening if you had just kept him from taking her in the first place!"

Sai frowned. "I was caught off guard."

"Obviously, you pale bastard!"

"Alright that's enough," Shikaku stated. "We have more important things to worry about now."

Inuyasha crossed his arms across his chest. "I told you just give us more time to look! We saw them head East so they're bound to be somewhere there…"

"Why the hell are we still standing here, hm?" asked Deidara as he glared up at his father. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with the arguing idiots and yet he was still there, listening to their pointless banter with nothing but a few feet between them.

"Fathers must unite during times like these," was all Inoichi said.

The younger male scowled. "Well, I'm not a father, so there's no point in me being here, hm."

"On the contrary," Inoichi countered before waving his son off. "Now go look for your sister. And while you're at it, search for Kagome-chan and Naruto too."

Deidara's scowl deepened. "I told you I don't—"

Inoichi cut him off as he began to push his son in a random direction. "_Go look for your sister,_" he reiterated in a stern tone.

Deidara glared and in a fit, stomped his feet and stormed off in anger.

* * *

><p>Normally, when two teenagers appeared huddled up in a shop like this, it was because 1. They were hiding from something or 2. They were planning on doing something nasty.<p>

However, considering that the two teenagers huddled up in her shop were Uzumaki Naruto and Nara Kagome, Sango hardly thought 2 was the case. She crouched down so that she could see them eye to eye, pretending not to see Naruto's panicked expression.

"What's going on?" She questioned.

"We're hiding," Kagome confessed without a second thought much to Naruto's chagrin.

"K-Kagome!" The boy sputtered. "How can you reveal that information so carelessly?"

"It's okay! Sango-san would never betray a friend," the blue eyed girl said with a smile.

Naruto's own blue eyes glanced back at the brunette staring at them with hawk eyes. "Yeah, well, I've never seen her."

"She's Tenten's older sister," Kagome revealed. "And like Tenten, she's really talented at using weapons. In fact, now that I think about it, isn't that—"

"Hirakotsu." Sango nodded, knowing that that was what Kagome was looking at.

"Why is it hanging on the wall like that?"

"I've become somewhat of a polishing expert. I just want others to see my work."

"That's great!" Kagome cheered. "So you polish other people's weapons as well?"

"A few," Sango confirmed. "Why are you two hiding in here again?" She didn't mean to sound rude, but this was _her_ shop, and while she liked Kagome, she couldn't say the same about her blond all, he was the one who carried the demon that had killed her mother. Her father had been left to raise three children on his own, and even though Sango knew deep in her heart that Naruto himself was not to blame for that, the fact of the matter was he was still the Kyuubi's vessel.

And forgiveness was not something that was easily achieved.

"We're hiding," Naruto repeated Kagome's earlier words. He hadn't missed the accusatory glare the older female had thrown his way: it was one he was used to seeing - had seen all his life.

"Are you?" Sango inquired, her voice sounding nothing like it had when she had been talking to Kagome. She sounded almost rude, now.

"Yeah," the chuunin slowly nodded his head. "You don't believe me?"

Sango crossed her arms across her chest. "I must say, the circumstances are rather suspicious."

"What's suspicious? I was keeping Kagome away from a bad situation. That's all."

"So you dragged her into my shop?"

Kagome raised her hand. "Ah, Sango-san, I was the one who—"

"Yeah, and? You're her friend, aren't you? You should be welcoming her arrival with open arms."

"The situation doesn't necessarily call for that," Sango retorted, not liking Naruto's assertiveness.

"It doesn't have to if she's your friend."

Now Sango was glaring at him. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"I could ask you the same."

"Okay stop!" Kagome intervened. "This is getting out of hand."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably while Sango leaned back. Since they were both being quiet, Kagome went on to say, "Sango-san, Naruto-kun really is a good person, and we really are just avoiding a bad situation. He wouldn't hurt or lie to anyone unless he had a good reason to."

Sango's sharp eyes narrowed further. "He sure seems to have no trouble running his mouth though."

"Years of mistreatment will do that to a person," Naruto coolly replied, his eyes a vibrant but dangerous blue.

Kagome was stunned. This was the first time she had seen him act in such a way, and she honestly had no idea what to do.

"Please don't fight," she softly pleaded to deaf ears, for Sango and Naruto looked seconds away from ripping each other's throats out.

Only when a customer stepped into the store, asking for help did Sango look away. "Go in the back," she told the two teenagers. "We'll finish this when I'm done here."

"Finish?" Kagome squeaked, scared of what that word implied.

Naruto grumbled to himself and stood before heading towards the door on the back wall. Kagome watched him leave before she scrambled after him, leaving Sango with her customer.

The back room she and Naruto were supposed to wait in was spacious. Unnecessarily so, since there were only a few boxes and a little desk with trinkets scattered on top located in the far corner.

Naruto went to the boxes, and sat on one. Kagome chose to sit on the one next to it. They sat in a tense silence with nothing but the sound of a clock ticking somewhere nearby.

Figuring he had a lot to say, Kagome turned to regard Naruto with careful eyes. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just stressed right now." Naruto cupped his face with trembling hands. "Damn it."

This was just another thing to add to his list. First, Sasuke and Sakura were chasing after him—for no reason, at that. Second, someone he barely knew was trying to pick a fight with him, and on top of that, he still had to make sure nothing happened to Kagome and—

He felt someone pat his shoulder. There was only person it could have been, but he still looked up at her anyway, surprised.

"Want to talk about it?" She offered. Naruto watched her a moment before his eyes drifted towards the practically empty room they were in. He decided to start with the one thing that had always bothered him the most.

"It's annoying," he said. "Sasuke and Sakura are my two closest friends. We've been teammates for three years now and they still treat me like I'm the weakest link. Like everything I do is nothing but a means to get attention. I can't do anything without them freaking out on me! Everything I do is a joke to them and I'm just their punching bag whenever something goes wrong!"

Kagome remained silent as she tried to think of something to say—something that would break the blond out of his funk. "…That's sort of how friends get after knowing each other for a while. They can say things they know will anger you, and things they know will cheer you up. They act a certain way because it's what they're used to, so Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan reacting in anger to whatever you do is just a habitual thing. Change is hardest for friends."

Naruto slowly blinked, his anger morphing into awe. "You really are a Nara."

Kagome laughed. "No, that's just something that my mom has always told me. I definitely wouldn't be able to come up with something so elaborate on my—"

She froze as she felt Naruto's arms slide around her shoulders to pull her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you," he murmured against his ear, to which Kagome swiftly nodded, too shy to say anything else. After a couple of seconds, he slightly moved back and the stressed look on his face from earlier morphed into a grin. "But I really am a goof!" He claimed. "I am Konoha's number one prankster after all!"

"So I've heard," his blue eyed friend remarked.

The blond merely grinned before he became serious again and leaned in his closer, his hands now resting on her shoulders. "Anyway, what's up with that girl back there? Songa or whatever?"

"Sango," Kagome corrected. "She's probably just having a bad—"

"Well. This is interesting."

Naruto and Kagome completely pulled away from another at the accusing tone of the unexpected voice, their faces a matching shade of red.

"Either of you wanna tell me what's going on?" The new arrival went on to ask.

Recognizing the voice, Kagome turned wide eyes towards the person casually leaning against the doorway.

"Bankotsu!" She exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto grit his teeth. 'Ah, damn it!'

End of Chapter.

* * *

><p>an: Remember how Sango acted towards Inuyasha when they first met? That was sort of what I was going for here. So yeah, she sorta seems like the bad guy right now, but that's only because I think it makes things more interesting that way.


	16. Voices go Hoarse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto.**

a/n: hiiiiiii! It's been a while but look! An update! yaaaay. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but at the same time, I am. Strange feeling, really. But I hope you guys enjoy! :)**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>It was like he was intruding on a moment between two lovers.<p>

For starters, this Bankotsu guy was a complete pretty boy and looked like he belonged in one of Kakashi-sensei's Icha Icha novels.

Secondly, Kagome's eyes were glistening—_glistening_! She looked _happy_ to see this Bankotsu guy! Hadn't Inuyasha said that he made her uncomfortable?

Naruto didn't know what was going on, or what to do. He could only watch as Kagome stood from her spot and began walking towards Bankotsu.

"Welcome—" She started, only to eep in surprise when Naruto suddenly placed himself in front of her, blocking her from Bankotsu's sight.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing?" said pretty boy asked.

"I'm not gonna let you take advantage of Kagome-chan!" Naruto declared. "I won't!"

Because she was behind him, he didn't see the confused look on Kagome's face, but he did hear her baffled, "what?"

Pretty boy crossed his arms across his chest. "What are you talking about, Uzumaki?"

"You _know_ what I'm talking about!"

"No, I don't!"

Naruto tried to think of a way he could word what he wanted to say without sounding too crude in front of Kagome. However, he didn't get the chance to ponder on it for too long because Bankotsu suddenly asked, "Kagome, what're you doing with this loser?"

"Bankotsu, don't be mean," Kagome chastised while stepping out from behind Naruto. "Naruto-kun has been very nice to me."

"Has been?" Bankotsu repeated. "Have you been with him all day? Is that why you didn't come greet me even though you knew today was the day I was coming back?"

"Actually, I forgot that you were returning today," Kagome sheepishly revealed. "Sorry."

She jumped in surprise when Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't apologize to this creep, Kagome," he told her.

"What'd you call me?!"

"A creep! You sound just like a stage five clinger, man."

"I do not! I'll have you know that Kagome and I go way back."

"That doesn't give you the right to throw yourself at her!"

"What?" Both Bankotsu and Kagome inquired.

Naruto blushed at his slip-up. "I-I mean—"

"Are you purposely trying to make shit up?" Bankotsu demanded with narrowed eyes.

"Stop," Kagome cut in, knowing where this was headed.

She was ignored. "No. But I know that you do in fact have some hidden motives regarding Kagome," Naruto said.

The look in Bankotsu's eyes was dangerous. "And what would _motives_ those be?"

"Don't act dumb."

Kagome grabbed Naruto's arm. "Stop it! Both of you!"

"Step aside, Kagome," Naruto told her, his eyes still focused on the "enemy" standing before them. "I'll handle him."

"That's my line!" Bankotsu declared before charging forward.

Naruto immediately followed suit.

"**Stop**!" Kagome yelled, running in between the two advancing males. Both immediately side-stepped to avoid hitting her: Naruto crashed into the wall while Bankotsu collided into some stacked boxes, creating both a big racquet and a big mess.

"What's going on back here?" Sango exclaimed as she ran into the room after hearing the noise. She took one look at the mess, and turned towards Bankotsu, who was slowly getting up. "I thought you were just coming in here to talk to Kagome-chan!"

Bankotsu scoffed. "That _was_ what I was going to do. But blondie over there distracted me."

Naruto scowled. "Don't try to blame it all on me, bastard!"

"Please just stop," Kagome pleaded to deaf ears. Sango merely glanced from one male to the other.

All they did was point fingers at one another, blame each other, throw insults at each other. It was annoying and to make matters worse, Kagome's own protests were being completely drowned out by the two testosterone-driven males…

She couldn't deal with it.

"Out!" The brunette suddenly yelled, startling the three teens with the volume of her voice. "All of you, out!"

"I just got here!" Protested Bankotsu.

"I don't care! Get out!"

Surprisingly, neither male complained any more, though they both didn't stop glaring at each other as they made their way towards the exit.

Kagome began heading towards the door, too, but Sango grabbed her forearm to stop her.

"You stay," she said.

Kagome bit her lip as she looked back towards the departing Naruto and Bankotsu. "I don't think that's a—"

"They'll be fine," assured Sango. "Stay here until your father comes to get you."

That made her want to stay even _less_. She tried again, throwing in her infamous puppy eyes for good measure. "Sango-san, I really, really think I should…" She trailed off when she noticed the sad look that entered Sango's eyes.

"What's wrong?" She questioned, instantly growing concerned for her friend.

Sango didn't want to pull this card, she really didn't, but it was the only way to get Kagome to sit still. "Kagome-chan, I'm going to tell you something you're not going to want to hear…"

* * *

><p>Back out on the street where they had first heard him, an annoyed Sakura and peeved Sasuke continued their search for their foolish blond teammate.<p>

"He _has_ to be here," Sakura murmured to herself as she searched for a blond head among the groups of people lingering on the streets. "We looked everywhere else so he has to be _here_."

Sasuke ignored her ramblings and searched in silence. Too engrossed in their personal mission, neither noticed the approaching danger until it was too late.

"Oi, Haruno! Uchiha!"

"Great," Sakura groaned as she recognized the voice. "Just great."

"Where the hell is Uzumaki?" Inuyasha demanded as he trotted up to them, Sai close behind. "And don't think you can hide him!"

"We don't have to answer to you!" Sakura snapped back still searching around. "Now go away!"

Inuyasha continued to follow them. "Not until you tell us where Kagome is!"

Sakura stopped raging long enough to process what Inuyasha had just said. "What does Kagome have to do with anything?" She asked while glancing back at Inuyasha and Sai. Though he looked disinterested, Sasuke too turned towards the males of team 11, waiting for one of them to answer Sakura's question.

Neither did.

"What does Kagome have to do with anything?" Sakura repeated.

"We are looking for her and suspect Naruto might be with her," Sai said.

"No derogatory names?" Sasuke probed, instantly suspicious.

Sai opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and looked at Inuyasha.

"I believe—" he started, only for Inuyasha to tell him to shut up.

Tensions were high, and only kept getting higher.

Then, the root of their problems literally appeared before them: more specifically, he stepped out of the shop they were standing in front of, arguing with someone.

Much to Inuyasha's annoyance, he was arguing with the one person he didn't want to see at the moment.

"This is all your fault!" Bankotsu accused while he continued to glare at Naruto.

"My fault?!" The blond shouted, "Everything was fine until you showed up!"

"Everything would have _stayed_ fine if you had just let me talk to Kagome without acting like a—!"

"Naruto!"

A chill ran down Naruto's spine.

There was only one person who said his name with such vigor. And from experience, he knew that if it sounded like Sakura, gave him the chills like Sakura, and exuded a tremendous amount of rage like Sakura, then it was probably Sakura.

Ignoring Bankotsu, he slowly turned to his fuming pink haired teammate. "H-hey, Sakura-chan."

Sakura wasn't as nice with her greeting. "You have some explaining to do! Where have you been?!"

He saw that Inuyasha and Sai were there and because of that, he didn't know how much Sakura and Sasuke knew. So he decided to play dumb. "N-nowhere!"

It was Sasuke's turn to ask. "Where have you been, dobe?"

"I said nowhere, bastard!"

"You sent us on a wild goose chase and you're gonna say you were nowhere?!" Sakura huffed. "You're lying!"

Before he could reply, Inuyasha butt in. "You failed, Uzumaki! I asked you to do _one_ thing and you couldn't do it!"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura demanded.

"That's none of your business!"

"It is too!"

"It's not!"

As the arguing continued, Naruto clenched his eyes and fists shut. Everyone was getting on his nerves, everyone was getting on his nerves, everybody was…

"Just shut up!" He yelled, not caring that he had startled Sakura with his snippy tone.

"Naruto," Sakura tried again, only to step back when Naruto suddenly disappeared from view.

She raised an eyebrow and turned to Sasuke. "What's his problem?"

"How would I know?" Sasuke retorted. Seeing that there was no reason for him to be there anymore, he began walking away from what he had dubbed 'the group of idiots,' heading in the direction of the place he figured Naruto had gone to.

Sakura gave team 11 (and the gorgeous stranger with the dazzling sapphire eyes) one last glance before following after her teammate, glad to leave the awkward atmosphere.

Once the team of morons (as Inuyasha had kindly dubbed them) had left, Inuyasha turned towards the bane of his existence.

"Bankotsu, where the hell is Kagome?"

Bankotsu carelessly gestured towards Sango's shop. "In there."

Sai finally spoke up. "Has she been there this whole time?"

"Hell if I know," Bankotsu shrugged. "You probably don't wanna go in there, though. Sango's in one of her moods, and Kagome looks exhausted."

Inuyasha waved him off and stomped towards the shop anyway. "Shut up! This is all your fault, anyway! Sai, go find Shikaku."

Bankotsu glared at him. "Show some respect, you ass. It's Shikaku-_san_."

Inuyasha was just two steps from the door when he stopped walking. "He doesn't even like you so just keep your mouth shut! And stay the hell away from Kagome!" He shouted. With that said, he stormed into the little shop.

Sai, too, left the busy district, leaving Bankotsu by himself.

He tried to look through the windows, hoping to get at least one little glimpse of Kagome, but to no avail.

Counting the day as a complete failure, he left.

End of chapter.


	17. At the End of the Day

a/n: Sooo, I got asked how long this story is going to be. I honestly don't know. Maybe 30 chapters, at the most? I don't know. XD Also, I will be creating my own storyline. Not a big fan on the current turn of events in the manga, honestly.

* * *

><p>This was, officially, the longest day of her life.<p>

She had a feeling her dad (who had just arrived with a nonchalant Sai) played an incredibly big role in all that had happened (because he just loved to meddle in all matters that concerned her), so she kept a close eye on him as he shot Inuyasha a "secret" glance, before making his way over to her.

She didn't miss the look of relief that entered his eyes when he saw that she was just fine.

When he was a few steps away from her, he laid a hand on the top of her head, and ruffled her hair.

"I trust nobody gave you any troubles today?" He asked.

Kagome huffed, and it became obvious then that she was tired and most likely annoyed. Only because of that was he going to spare her the typical lecture that came after she spent time with Bankotsu. And also why he wasn't going to hunt the guy down. He gave her head one more pat before ushering her to join her teammates before he moved to talk to Sango.

A few moments later, squad 11 was out of the little shop, with Shikaku in the lead.

They hadn't been out of the shop for more than 30 seconds when a strange occurrence happened: Sai chuckled.

An astonished Inuyasha and Kagome turned to face him, and Inuyasha asked, "And just what the hell are you laughing at?"

"Everything. This entire situation is humorous," Sai responded, still chuckling.

Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms across his chest. "Shut up, Sai."

"I am just laughing."

"And it's annoying! Plus, there's no reason for you to be laughing!"

"But this is funny."

"Sai, if you don't shut your mouth—!"

Sick of it all too, Kagome snapped. "Will the two of you give it a rest already? Sheesh!"

Sai couldn't help but watch his friends with the slightest bit of mirth evident in his charcoal eyes. "It is also funny that the two people with the shortest tempers are on the same team."

"What part of _shut up_ do you not understand?!" Inuyasha shouted.

"That's not funny at all," Kagome griped.

"I disagree," said Sai. "But I will stop laughing."

"Good, you pale bastard," Inuyasha mumbled. Sai wasn't all that great at keeping his mouth shut when he had to at times, and the last thing they all needed was for him to tell Kagome of their plan.

He couldn't believe they had gone through all that trouble to ensure Bankotsu wouldn't get near Kagome, only for him to end up finding her anyway. He only hoped Sai had somewhat softened the truth so that Shikaku wasn't _too_ pissed.

Seeing that the Nara patriarch was far ahead enough, he glanced at Kagome. He hadn't gotten the chance to ask her back in the shop, so he might as well ask her now.

"Hey. Bankotsu didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"Not this again," she groaned. "I've told you guys hundreds of times—he's just a friend!"

"Oh, please! You've had to have noticed by now that he likes you!"

When Kagome tensed, Inuyasha knew the truth. "See?!"

The female Nara sighed. "I don't…I don't like Bankotsu like that. He's just a friend."

Inuyasha snorted. "What, the whole muscular pretty boy thing doesn't appeal to you?"

"That's none of your business!" Kagome yelled.

"Settle down back there, kids," called Shikaku from way up ahead. "There's no need to bite each other's heads off."

"Yeah, Kagome," Inuyasha jeered, only to recoil when she threw him a terrifying glare.

Sai merely smiled, wisely choosing not to laugh.

Later, after parting ways with her teammates, Kagome found herself in her room, remembering what had happened before her father and Sai had arrived at Sango's shop.

"_Kagome-chan, I'm going to tell you something you're not going to want to hear."_

_Intrigued, Kagome watched Sango expectantly for the bit of info she supposedly wasn't going to like._

"_Have you heard of a love triangle?" _

_Kagome paused, a look of confusion coming across her face. "Yeah?"_

_Sango became sympathetic. "You're in one." _

"A dilemma," Kagome sighed as she broke out of her thoughts. In all truth, it really wasn't a dilemma because she was pretty sure that she wasn't romantically interested in either Bankotsu or Naruto. In fact, she wasn't interested in anyone at all. That didn't mean she was unaware of Bankotsu's interest in her, though. She had noticed way back when they first met. She just didn't know how to deal with it so she usually acted neutral around him. She didn't treat him any differently than she treated anyone else.

At least, she didn't think she did. He was nice to her, and she was nice back—wasn't that how most friendships worked?

Also, she doubted Naruto was interested in her. For starters, they were still getting to know one another, and she remembered him pining after Sakura when they were younger, and crushes were hard to get over. There was also Hyuuga Hinata, who really, _really_ liked him. So ultimately, he had his own dilemma to worry about and it _didn_'_t_ involve her. She hoped Naruto found someone for him soon, because he really was a nice guy! Along with him, she hoped Bankotsu ended up finding someone who could return his feelings as well.

"Just being friends can be tough, too," she murmured to herself as she fell back against her bed. Or maybe it was just her. Maybe she thought too simply or complexly of relationships.

She truly didn't know. But at this rate, Sai was going to find someone before she did.

She giggled at the thought, trying to think of the one person who would be able to handle Sai's quirks. A few seconds later, she found herself thinking about all that poor Naruto had had to endure while she had been with him.

Her good mood sobered.

"I wonder where he ran off to …"

* * *

><p>"You want some advice, hm?"<p>

"_No_," was a peeved Naruto's response before he resumed shoveling ramen in his mouth. He wasn't in the mood to talk and yet this girly-looking blonde (who basically looked like some odd replica of Ino) kept jabbering on and on. What the hell was he even doing at Ichiraku Ramen if he wasn't eating anything?

Despite his answer, Deidara went ahead and gave him advice anyway. "Just stay single and find yourself a hobby, hm. Preferably one that involves art."

At the mere suggestion of a relationship, Naruto's face glowed red. "Who said I wanted—!"

The older teen shot him an irked stare. "The only people who make faces like the one you're making right now are those who are romantically involved with someone else, hm."

Ayame, who had been quietly cleaning dishes, nodded. "I noticed it, too."

"Well, you guys are seeing things!" Naruto declared.

Feeling bad for Naruto, Ayame decided it was time for a change in topic. "Hey, Deidara-san, why don't you show Naruto-kun your hands?"

Naruto wasn't _terribly_ interested, but obviously, something had to up with the guy's hands if Ayame brought it up. "Do you have extra fingers or something?" He asked.

"No, you idiot," Deidara replied. He then brought his right hand up and opened it.

Naruto was shocked to see a mouth—a mouth with a complete set of teeth in the center of his palm. "What the hell?!"

Deidara smirked as he brought up his other hand, which also had a mouth. "Cool, huh?"

He supposed being distracted for a while wouldn't hurt. "For a weirdo, I guess! How did you get 'em?"

He listened in to Deidara's tale of how he had traveled all the way to Iwagakure to learn the secret technique that was supposedly forbidden, all for his _art, _his passion, the one thing he couldn't live without.

When Deidara began sputtering nonsense about his love of clay, Naruto zoned out.

The day had sucked. It seriously had. Being with Kagome wasn't bad, but when your teammates had short tempers and you were trying to avoid an obsessive pretty-boy, it was hard to focus on anything other than how unfair life could be. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and he honestly wondered how he hadn't just collapsed in the middle of everything.

He remembered Kagome's words: _"…That's sort of how friends get after knowing each other for a while. They can say things they know will anger you, and things they know will cheer you up. They act a certain way because it's what they're used to… Change is hardest for friends."_

Nothing was changing, though, so why was everything so messed up?

A picture of Bankotsu's smirking face ran through his thoughts. He instantly wanted to punch him. Then, the image of a happy Kagome running into Bankotsu's arms passed through his mind, and he wanted to punch Bankotsu even more.

He paused.

…He wasn't jealous, was he?

He didn't realize Deidara had stopped talking and was now staring at his dejected expression. He looked at Ayame and pointed at the miserable blond. "The jilted lover, hm."

He would never find his peace. "Shut up!" Naruto whined. "Just shut up…"

End of chapter.

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><p>an: Don't worry, more about Bankotsu and Kagome's relationship and how they met will come up in the upcoming chapters (which will also be when Naruto and Kagome are reunited). x)


	18. Teenage Angst!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto.**

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><p><em>He was alone.<em>

_In a sea of black, he was the only thing that stood out. It was strange, unworldly, and it gave him a sense of dread. _

_To get rid of that feeling, he closed his eyes, and envisioned himself standing anywhere but in that never-ending darkness._

_He opened his eyes, and found himself standing outside Ichiraku Ramen._

_He blinked. The lights were on, and he could see that there were people there—or to be accurate—one. One person was there. _

'_That orange looks familiar,' he thought, his blue eyes sliding down to his own pair of pants before they widened in shock. Just as he was about to barge inside, he heard a pair of footsteps. He turned to see who it was._

_Kagome._

"_Kago…" He trailed off, since dream Kagome didn't even seem to acknowledge he was there. Instead, she kept her gaze on the ground, and when she finally lifted her head, all he could see was the tremendous amount of worry in her eyes._

'_Here we go,' she quietly muttered to herself before asking out loud, "Ayame-chan, are you here?"_

'_Hey,' Naruto thought as it hit him just then. 'I know this!'_

_This was his and Kagome's first encounter! Their first encounter as friends! The encounter that started it all! And it was just seconds away from happening!_

"_Kagome-chan!" He yelled. "Before you go in there, you should know that…" His voice became quieter and quieter. Though his mouth continued to move, no sound came out of it. He drew back when he noticed the change and tried to shout._

_Nothing._

'_What the hell is going on?' He wondered. 'Why can't I say anything?' He tried speaking again but to no avail. He clenched his fists in frustration and tried once more. _

Nothing_. _

_Fed up, Naruto decided to just run up to her, but right at he took the first step, he stopped dead in his tracks, because Bankotsu (of all people) stepped out of Ichiraku. _

_Naruto's face turned red in anger and if he wasn't so worried over the fact that his _voice was gone_, he would have pummeled the guy. His dislike towards Bankotsu became the least of his worries though when, to his shock, the look of apprehension on Kagome's face became one of glee. With a bright smile, she ran towards Bankotsu, and threw herself into his open arms._

_No…this wasn't how it went. Everything was completely wrong. Kagome was supposed to go into Ichiraku, get the shock of her life, then _he_, Naruto, was supposed to save her by smoke bombing the place and getting her the hell out of there._

_Bankotsu wasn't supposed to be in the picture at all!_

_The two pulled away from their embrace, and Kagome _finally_ noticed him standing there. Her smile widened and she tore herself out of Bankotsu's grip and ran over to him, and things only became stranger from there._

"_Naruto-kun! Guess what? Bankotsu has asked me to marry him! But because my father and nobody approves of our relationship, we decided that we're going to elope! Isn't that exciting?"_

_A smirking Bankotsu strolled on over to them, and wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist. "Thanks for being one of the few people who does approve of our union, man. Much appreciated."_

_Naruto gaped. 'I don't approve of your _union_, you piece of—!' _

_He watched as Kagome patted Bankotsu on the arm. "It's because Naruto-kun is so kind! Isn't he kind, Bankotsu?" _

"_Yeah," Bankotsu agreed, staring down into Kagome's eyes with sparkles and lights illuminating the background. "Real kind." _

_Naruto finally found his voice._

"_WHAT THE HELL?!" _

"Holy _crap_!" Naruto shouted as he woke himself up and fell out of his bed.

He hit the floor with a hard thud, and groaned at the pain that shot up his back.

This was the third night in a row he had had that dream. He didn't know why, exactly, but it was frustrating and it drove him crazy. It was always the same thing too: he'd be in that same spot outside Ichiraku, Kagome would appear, then Bankotsu would show his face and it would all go downhill from there.

It bothered him. Either all the beatings from Sakura had finally knocked something loose in his head or someone had trapped him in a genjutsu or something...

Lifting himself off the floor, Naruto sprawled back on his bed.

This was insane. He didn't know what to do anymore, and he was losing sleep and nothing seemed right anymore.

All his thoughts revolved around the happy, the pretty, the smiling—

'_Kagome_…'

He sighed and covered his face with his pillow. "Just what the hell is going on?"

* * *

><p>It was early. Too early, in Renkotsu's opinion. But, squad eleven had a mission and because it was in a different village, they had to get an early start.<p>

"This will be the first serious mission we've gone on in a while, so I'm going to be stricter with you guys than I normally am," he said.

At Sai's badly timed chuckle, he paused, even stopping in his tracks as he looked back at his student. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Sai responded. "Is to wrong to laugh at nothing?"

Renkotsu turned back around, willing himself not to get angry. They had only been traveling for 20 minutes at the most and it wouldn't do any of them any good if he lost his temper already.

"Wonderful," griped a grouchy Inuyasha. "The one who normally keeps his mouth shut won't shut his mouth, and the one who usually yammers on and on is sulking."

"I'm not _sulking_," Kagome countered from her spot behind the group.

"Yes, you are," Inuyasha argued. "Look at you!"

All three males of squad thirteen regarded their female companion in that moment.

She wasn't even standing five feet behind them. There had to be a good thirty feet separating her from them. Not only that, but she was being strangely quiet. She was never quiet. There was obviously something wrong with her.

"Ka_gome_! Get up here!" Renkotsu demanded. Kagome winced at his tone of his voice, but listened.

Once she was standing a reasonable distance from them, Renkotsu gave his insufferable students one final warning. "I'll warn you all right now— if you annoy me even the slightest bit within the course of this mission, I **will** leave you to fend for yourselves. I am **not** in the mood to deal with your teenage angst."

Three pairs of eyes watched him make his declaration with placid wonder. None of them said a word.

Then, the silence was shattered by Inuyasha's chuckle.

"Fine with me. I've kinda always wanted to see Kagome's dad kick your ass," he said.

Sai joined in on the chuckling. "It'd be an easy win for Shikaku-san."

Inuyasha smirked and nodded in agreement. "Embarrassingly easy."

Their merriment didn't carry over to their female teammate, who only sighed as she watched Renkotsu give Inuyasha and Sai a good whack on the backs of their heads.

However, she reacted in her usual manner when Renkotsu suddenly directed his fury onto her. Luckily, he never raised his hand at her, but he had no problem voicing his rage. "What about you, Kagome? Do you have any witty remark that you'd like to make?"

She nervously giggled. "N-no, I'll pass."

He took a step back. "Good." With that, he resumed stomping down the dirt path out of the village.

Kagome waited until he was out of hearing shot to address her teammates. "Please don't provoke Renkotsu-sensei anymore," she pleaded.

Inuyasha was quick to point fingers. "Yeah, Sai. If you feel like laughing over _nothing_, stuff your fist in your mouth."

The pale artist frowned. "That does not sound very pleasant."

"Inuyasha, that applies to both of you!" Kagome snapped. "Let's all try to get along like we normally do. For our client's sake, okay?"

"Who the hell cares about the client?" Inuyasha grumbled to himself as he rubbed the back of his head, the same spot that Renkotsu had hit. Then he gave Kagome a hard stare.

"Mind sharing why you look so down?" He asked. Before Kagome could refute his claim, he added, "And don't lie! It's obvious there's something bothering you so spill!"

Sai, too, stared expectantly at her.

Kagome met their gazes, and searched for something to say.

It was strange. She had gone to bed feeling okay, but when she had woken up, she had felt nothing but anxiety. She felt incredibly nervous for some reason, and she had a feeling part of it had to do with the mission. Just their client's name alone—_Onigumo_—gave her the chills. All they were doing was making sure nothing bad happened to him while he was being escorted by another group from one hospital in Amegakure, to another hospital in Kusagakure. It sounded simple but this was a guy with a lot of enemies, and someone had managed to get to him already since the reason he was in the hospital in the first place was because he had been caught in a suspicious fire and now lay in critical condition. She seemed to be the only one who felt queasy about the whole thing because Inuyasha, Sai, and Renkotsu-sensei were all acting normally.

Also, Naruto seemed to linger in the back of her mind. She wanted to apologize to him for having to deal with so much just for helping her, but she hadn't seen him for a couple of days now and she couldn't do much about it at this point because she was leaving the village and going to be gone for three days. Everything was a mess and she couldn't even fix it.

She just felt so unbalanced. But she didn't want to hear her friends badmouth Naruto, so all she told them was, "I just have a bad feeling about this mission."

"Is that all?" Sai asked her.

"Well, that's the main issue," Kagome truthfully answered.

Inuyasha responded this time. "Keh, you're worrying over nothing! We're capable of handling whatever gets thrown at us!"

Sai nodded. "And when we are finished, we can anger Renkotsu-sensei for fun."

At her friends' words, Kagome couldn't help but smile. She felt so much better. Not entirely reassured, but at least she felt calmer than before.

Up ahead, Renkotsu finally realized how quiet his students were being. Unused to that, he turned to glance back at them.

He nearly did a face-plant when he realized the three teenagers were still back where he had left them—they hadn't moved at all!

'_Those little—!'_

"What the hell are the three of you doing so far behind?! Hurry it up!"

* * *

><p>It was with urgency that Naruto knocked on the Nara household's door.<p>

He didn't mean to sound like a madman pounding on the door the way he was. He just needed answers. He needed to know what was going on and why his thoughts were going into overdrive. If he didn't, he would never ever find peace, and he was going to end up dying because he couldn't focus on anything other than—

Before his musings could go any further, Shikamaru answered the door. He looked somewhat surprised (bored too, he always looked bored) to see him.

"Naru—"

He didn't waste a second. "Where's Kagome?"

If Shikamaru found it strange that he was asking for his sister, he didn't show it. "She's gone."

Naruto choked as he thought of what those two words implied. "_Gone_?" He repeated.

"Don't say it so menacingly," Shikamaru said with a hint of annoyance. "She left today on a mission with her team. She'll be back in three days. You can come back then."

"Three days?! I can't—I can't wait that long. I have to talk to her!"

To his chagrin, Shikamaru didn't seem to be the slightest bit sympathetic. "There's nothing you can do about it now. Come back in three days," he said.

Naruto frowned. "But it's urgent!"

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Use your shadow jutsu to trap her and bring her back—!"

"Come back in three days, Naruto," Shikamaru repeated for the last time before he closed the door in Naruto's face.

End of chapter.


End file.
